The Greater Evil IV : World of Ruins
by Guillaume HJ
Summary: Destiny has gone awry, and the world is left broken...May, Misty and the others once more set out as the final threat is revealed...but without their leader, Ash, now long dead, what hope is there?
1. Reunion

The Greater Evil IV : World of Ruins 

Part I : Reunion

Chapter 1

Thunder lashed against the enormous stone bulk that stretched from the coast toward the heartland of the Alph peninsula. The coarse light briefly illuminated the great towers of the fortress of Murasakiiro Shiro - the violet castle - the easternmost stronghold of the line of defense that was generally known as the Wall of Alph, the line of defense that stretched from the mainland in front of Goldenrod in the west, across the broken remnants of the mountains of Alph, to the great fortress south of Violet in the east.

North of the great wall, the land was relatively fertile, at least fertile enough for the survivors of the three cities to make a living with what food they could collect. The hills of the heart of Alph, the only remnants of the great mountain peaks that had once been there, provided a good space for what few herds they could raise to graze. Life was decent in the region, at least as decent as it could get. Or it would have been, had it not been for the deadlands.

The deadlands were a vast expense of blackened, scorched earth, of disgusting lifeless swamp of which the smell would repulse even the strongest heart, the direct results of the death of a God, a place where life could not exist. Had it only been for the geographical horror that they were, the deadlands would not have proven so much of a problem.

What made them terrible was far worst, perhaps even worst than even the people who lived daily next to the deadlands could see.

Where Tremayne, the god of the night, a god who had died while such as thing was not meant to happen, had fallen, brought there by the unleashed energy waves of his death, was a portal, or perhaps a rift in the fabric of creation, one that reached beyond heaven. Through it, the primal force of destruction could seep in the universe, the dreaded beings of pure shadow known as Avaraen appearing as its minions. They had stared spawning on the instant the world had fallen. Within months, they had been strong enough to swarm over the remnants of the citizens of Azalea. In minutes, only ruins had remained, ruins and a few survivors fleeing to the north, barely making it, many of them dying before they could reach Goldenrod and Violet.

They had done as best as they could manage in response, erecting a tremendous wall across the peninsula, barring off all attempts at crossing easily in the fertile lands. It could not be done, not without an assault, and fortunately, they had learned how to make effective weapon in time to repulse the assault when it had come.

Jeffrey had been the one to tell them, the one who had realized that many of the stones turned over and discarded while building the wall were starspire, as surprising as it seemed. He had been the one who had taught them what he had once learned of how to make weapons that would actually harm the shadow. And now, armed with their swords, their pikes, their axes, the troops of the wall waited for the next assault. 

There had been many of them already, at various points, but so far, thanks to Falkner and to the rapid deployment his aerial forces mounted on flying pokemon could manage, none of them had managed to seriously breech the wall. So far, the rest of Johto was safe.

So far. Reflecting on the situation, the man, once a scientist, now a warrior, could not help but admit that they would keep coming, their numbers ever increasing, while on the other hand the troops of the wall would keep dying without anyone to climb to the front instead of them. They would last still a while, perhaps even as much as a year more or even two, but one day, the wall would fall.

The towers of the great Shiro, those same towers that stood so valiantly against all the armies that would challenge it, these towers would fall in ruins one day, swept and brought down by the assault of the darkness. It could not be avoided; they all knew it.

Brushing away the strand of blonde hair that had fallen in his face, the young man peered through his glasses again, looking for any sign of activity in the deadlands. No shadow that he could see, which was good, though there were still area were the creatures of utter shadow could move without being noticed. Through hard work, they had cleared a band of earth of fifty meters on the southern side of the wall of all obstruction to make sure there were no place for the shadows to hide in from the powerful flames that burned atop the parapets of the great fortification. Even with all that work, it still was not enough, there always seemed to be one more dark shadow for them to hide in.

So much had happened to the world since that day when, instead of simply defeating a God in a duel as things had been meant, he and his companions had broken the prophecies and destiny, killing the deity instead. The world had been shattered, and everything had been changed. He knew from what scouts had told him that the land of Alph; once a bridge between Faris to the south and Johto to the north; was now a peninsula stretching in the sea, with a vast straight between it and the coast of Faris, now covered with impassable, hostile cliffs. The mountains of Alph, once tall peaks clawing at the sky had been torn and broken, becoming to the north a series of low hills, and to the south a total wasteland, save for perhaps a few cragged peaks that remained standing alone in the empty expanse. To the west, the gulf of Violet was still there, though it had been terribly enlarged at its mouth, swallowing in the process the town of Cherrygrove. No one knew about survivors, and in a world were they all had to fend for their continued existence, no one had the time to look for them.

New Bark still lived on, though now it was a small island in the middle of the bay of Bark, a bay that now stretched halfway through the continent northward, a deep gouge in the taller than ever mountains of the Silver range, one of the few mountain range that had grown with the breaking. Beyond Johto, there was no telling what Kanto was now like, save for the rumors that the gulf of Viridian was now a vast plain, while the plains of Celadon supposedly had become a great inner sea. Cerulean, Lavender, Fuchsia, Pallet, all of them were, if the rumors were true, now on island separated from the mainland by the water. As was Goldenrod to the west. Olivine was no more, its ruins standing all around the tall mountains that had appeared there, mountains that continued south in what had once been the sea to swallow Cianwood as well. From the north, not even rumors came of how much of the geography had been reshaped by the breaking. Mahogany, Blackthorn, Ecruteak, there were no news from them. It seemed as if the earth, in its anger, had swallowed them all.

"Jeffrey." The word that broke his concentration came from the mouth of a young man with fierce dark hair. His long cloak was wrapped tightly around him, providing some measure of protection against the wind that blew from the north, a rather cold wind. The man had hawk-like blue eyes, and his face, once carefree, now was that of a true tested warrior. Like most citizens of the world, he had had his easy life taken away from him three years before, and had been forced to adapt to a new world.

"Falkner." He nodded, smiling at the simple fact that he was one of the few in the entire army on the wall that actually called the three generals - Bugsy Heiver, Whitney Crescent and Falkner Eisenstein by their actual first name rather than simply general, my lord, or my lady. Of course, that came as much from the help he had given them as from the fact that he was directly related to Jonathan Surge, the gym leader of Vermilion.

"The scouts we sent in the deadlands are returning. They reached the Skythorn gate three days ago. I thought you might want to be there for their reports." The man informed him rapidly. "Commander Bearge will also be there, of course."

Jeffrey nodded, rapidly reviewing the information. The scouts had been sent to investigate the strange lessening in the activities of the deadlands - no attacks against the walls in twelve months at least - and they already were late by a few days. Of course, the fact that they had returned by the Skythorn gate, in the middle of Alph, rather than the Violet gate, in front of the great castle, explained their lateness to at least a certain extent, but still. He got up to his feet, eager to hear more of the news, and to see what the three generals as well as Felicity Bearge, the leader of a group of battle-hardened mercenary that had agreed to help them, would have to say about the report.

Rising to his feet from his sitting position, he nimbly jumped from the great stones of her parapet on the walkway behind it, swiftly racing back toward the Shiro. His halberd was still in the castle, as it was a rather inconvenient weapon to carry around unless one expected a true battle, although he still had a short sword in a scabbard at his belt. The guards at the doors let him and Falkner in quickly, knowing they were dealing with one of their strongest, most important allies, as well as their very leader.

Flying almost literally up the stairs, Jeffrey did not notice Falkner slowing down and then stopping; extenuated by the running while Jeffrey still felt not even the smallest sign of tiredness. He could have walked, raced all the way to the southern end of the deadlands and come back, and still he would not feel any weaker, he knew it. 

"How do you do that?" Falkner asked him as he finally reached the top of the great stairway, a few minutes after Jeffrey. "I mean...it's almost as if you had unlimited energy, you're never tired..."

"I know. Come from that." With his answer, he slowly pulled up the right sleeve of his shirt, revealing his arm and part of his shoulder. And more important, revealing the strange shapes that covered them. Swirling darkness, like clouds of a thunderstorm, covered the back of his shoulder and the outer side of his arm. From time to time, a brilliant bolt of lighting would flash on the image, as if a living storm had been set just under his skin, though he felt no shock as the lightning raced all over him.

"What is that?" Falkner's strangled voice came in a reply.

"Dunno. Got that a few years ago, just before the fight. It has something to do with Zapdos, or so I understand. But I've never been tired since I got that. I can get sleep anytime if I want to, but I don't need the sleep." He remembered the details of the event, how great wings of crackling energy had wrapped up around him while his Jolteon stared, how he had felt a strange sensation in his back as if a power was awakening there. 

The council room already held quite a few others as they entered, Bugsy alone by a window, his yellow-green hair cut short around his ears. When the disaster had struck three years before, he had been young, barely twelve, but now, at fifteen, he was as much a fighter as any of them, hardened by the loss of his home, his friends. A short battle spear was propped on the wall near him, his own weapon which he had used many time against the Avaraen of the deadlands.

Whitney was alone as well, her reddish brown hair cascading around her shoulders, over her dark leather combat suit. Her eyes were hard as she scanned the room around them from her place, sitting on one of the chair near the wall. Just besides her, wearing their light armor, Felicity and her aide, Ashton Maxwell, stood. Both of their armors were marked with a symbol shaped like a strange red bug-like creature, the mark they had adopted as the symbol of their mercenary group, which they had called the scorpions.

"Surge. Falkner" Whitney nodded as he entered, pointing toward the pair of scout standing close to the door, both of them also wearing light armor, one with dark black hair, the other with light brown, almost blonde hair. Their eyes seemed haunted, something not surprising at all considering they had just witnessed the horrors of the deadlands.

"Everyone." Falkner nodded as he took his chair.

"What do you have to report?" Bugsy turned toward the scouts, his eyes seeming to bore in their minds, as if she was trying to find out what they had to say before they would say it.

"The first fifty miles to the south of the wall are clear of all activities." One of the scouts reported. "Beyond that, there are a few sparse Avaraen, but really nothing worth noticing." 

"Really?" Felicity's voice was questioning. "No traces of Avaraen activity at all?"

"Some major traces around the central mountains, but we can't go in there. You all know that the pit is too dangerous for humans to visit." The scout quickly reported.

"So they might be gathering there." Jeffrey drew the logical conclusion. "And yes, we know." He acknowledged as an afterthought to make it clear he was not blaming the scouts for not going there.

"Partially. Other traces indicate heavy movement toward the sea, to the south, but we went there and found nothing. They can't have moved to Faris, so..." 

"True." With a curt nod, Jeffrey considered that turn of events. Obviously, them leaving by way of the sea meant ships, and since there was no way ships could have been built in the deadlands, that meant outside intervention. "They got allies. Avaraen not in the deadlands or else humans siding with them." He pointed out.

"Definitely." Felicity nodded quickly. "But who, I have no idea. Anything else?" She turned again toward the scout.

"Strange things. Once or twice we heard the sound of fighting not too far away from us, and tried to get a clear sight of it, but only things we saw were a few Avaraen running away from it. Almost every time when we arrived, there would be nothing left to see, except maybe dissipating Avaraen."

The puzzling new was welcomed with great silence. There were no immediate explanations for them to find, but it seemed as if a new ally was acting inside the enemy lines, one who had a starspire weapon, and who wished to remain unseen. That certainly was an odd new.

"Almost every time?" He suddenly noticed the distinction. The soldier fidgeted, apparently unwilling to explain what he had meant, from his expression wishing he had not mentioned the "almost".

"Well...one of my men claimed to have seen them once...but he was a bit...weird. The deadlands just didn't agree with him, he tried to kill himself a bit later. We had him taken to one of the towers for the medics to look at him."

"The details, captain. Maybe he was insane, but maybe he actually saw the things that happened." Falkner's stern voice brought the man back on track.

"Yes, sir." The man nodded quickly. "He claimed to see a golden figure - shining golden figure - attacking the Avaraen, and devastating them, as a second one attacked that they seemed not to see at all."

"Strange." Falkner pondered the problem. "Most Avaraen are able to sense their enemy, even camouflage wouldn't have worked.

"Dark types. We know Avaraen detect their enemies by using brain waves akin to psychic powers. Someone with the same mental focus as a dark type pokemon could conceivably find a way around that." Jeffrey replied, rapidly going over what he had just heard.

"Any other details?" He asked the man.

"He claimed to see two cloaked figures attacking the Avaraen with sword, one shining that they were all attacking while they completely ignored the other."

"Swords and cloaks..." The thought raced through his mind. "And a dark type...It almost has to be..."

"You have an idea Jeffrey?" Falkner questioned him.

It was worth trying, that much he could certainly see. If two of the nine were out there, he had to go and try to help them. If. The possibilities of them being anyone else, however, were low. Few, if any humans were armed with swords, wore cloak, and had a soft glow in the world, while equally few humans had the dark type mental focus that shielded them from all form of mental assault.

But May Oak had a soft golden glow coming out of her, probably the result of coming back from the dead, and Misty Waterflower had the dark type mental focus, the result, as far as he knew, of an unlucky adventure involving Syraelle, one of the priestess of Tremayne, the god they had later killed. He was not much interested in saving May, as she had once been part of the Crimson Lotus, the group that had captured him, tortured him, and killed his only pokemon. But on the other hand, Misty had been a good friend in the few months they had all traveled together after the battle at the Ruins of Alph, and he could not let her down.

"I think the scout might have reported what really happened sir. It seems unlikely, but it's a possibility I want to investigate." Of course, if the scout had really been seeing things, going there would be a waste of time, and potentially a waste of life. But still, it had to be tried. "I'd like to lead personally a group of scouts down there." He concluded.

"Hmmm....of all the men we have here, you are probably the one who know the most about what's going on in this world, so you going there would make sense..." Whitney nodded, her forehead creased in concentration. "Risky, though. Any idea about how to cover up for that risk?"

Quick reflects gave him the answer easily. "I think a small group of scorpion would be a reasonable protective force. They are among our most skilled fighters. Perhaps a few soldiers from Azalea, too, they know what the deep deadlands are like. And of course the captain here will have to come along to show us the way. That's as good as it get protection-wise, outside staying here. I don't think we can afford that." He completed his plan.

The gym leaders seemed to consider the option for a moment as Jeffrey went over the plan again, trying to find ways to increase it. He wished for a brief moment he had taken the time to listen to his uncle's talk of battles and tactics when he had been younger, but now was too late to think about it.

"He's right." Falkner finally nodded. "Felicity?" The man, once a gym leader, now a general, turned toward the mercenary leader, who insisted on keeping her past a secret, though he had heard whispered that she had once been part of the nefarious Team Rocket. Not the best base on which to trust someone, but she was a deadly warrior, and having her as a hard to trust ally was better than having her as an outright enemy.

"I'll take my personal force down there. There's not a single fighting force that can match us in this part of the world." Her voice was confident, and as far as Jeffrey was concerned she had every reason to think that way. Her troops were just that good. 

"Well, then, it's settled." With a nod, Bugsy confirmed that the plan would be used. "I think you'll have to do it soon and do it quickly. I don't like those reports about Avaraen crossing to the sea."

Chapter 2

"I'm not very fond of the idea of you going there." Naïa declared firmly, her eyes locked with his. "At least going there without me." She amended. "The strategic reasons for you going there make perfect sense, but give me one good reason why I can't go along?"

He shrugged. "I guess there are no good reasons, except that I was thinking in terms of larger forces when I came up with the idea." He answered. 

"Not very brilliant thinking." She pointed out, a sardonic smile on her lips. "Who would you rather have along? Twenty recruits or Bearge?" She asked sweetly. "Don't bother answering, we both know the truth of the matter."

She sat on the edge of their bed, her ring glittering softly as a flicker of torch fire caught it. The stone inlaid on it was not a diamond, it would have meant nothing to them in the new world. Monetary value, as well as it seemed, was not something they gave much though to. So, instead of giving her a ring made of gold, or diamond, or any such, he had painstakingly crafted it out of a pure block of Starspire. At least such a ring could be used as a last line of defense against Avaraen.

"The whole thing is, you know as well as I that I can help you." She smiled. "I know the deadlands as well as those people of Azalea, fight better than them, and then there's the reason that made you notice me in the first place." She smiled.

"Your stunning beauty? True, the troops of Azalea seems to lack that." He grinned as she picked up the pillow and tried to hit him with it. Her loose ebony hair floated behind her, the dark skin of her cheek reddening - or at least it would have reddened, if it had been visible. 

"You know that's not what I was talking about." She smiled.

"True." He acknowledged, knowing very well he was talking about her ability to stay calm under the greatest stress, and do what had to be done. When he had first met her, two years before, in the deadlands, she had been alone, isolated, with a host of Avaraen hunting her. Her family had already been killed, yet she was not weeping, crying, or panicking. No, she had been coldly feeding a large fire to keep the creatures at bay with a blazing light that gave her a small shelter. With her help, he had been able to take her back to the wall, and they had soon fallen in love. A year later, now just over a year ago, he had married her.

Upon her arrival, she had joined the forces fighting on the wall, and had been a welcome addition, as her cold-headedness had helped stave off one or two assault against the wall. She knew how to fight, and knew how to stay focused, not to lose sight of her goal in action, and to take the actions required to reach it.

"All right. You win." He gave in with a smile, knowing there would be no keeping her away from the forces he would lead southward. "I'll talk to Falkner about letting you come tomorrow." He smiled, knowing that convincing the young man would be an easier task than convincing Naïa not to come along.

She seemed thoughtful for the briefest of moment, as if she found a thing or two to be improved in his plan. "I think I'll deal with Falkner myself." She finally decided, her lips moving quickly as she let out the words. "He owe me a favor or two for helping him out with Whitney, so I'll just remind him of that." She laughed.

"You're manipulative." Jeffrey smiled, putting an arm on her shoulder, letting her move closer to him.

"Yes, but as you said, I'm ready to go to any length to reach my goals." She smiled, reaching out to kiss him, their lips meeting.

"True." He grinned, caressing her cheek softly as she kept close to him. 

There was the briefest of pause before she spoke again, as she seemed to grow thoughtful for the shortest while. A smile appeared on her lips suddenly as she wrapped her arms tightly around him, slipping her hands under his shirt. 

"I take it your current goal just changed?" He smiled back, holding her as close to him as she could be.

"Yes." Her smile became a full grin as she ran an hand along his spine. "And I'll need to be very manipulative to reach it." She added, grinning still, kissing him.

He smiled back.

___________________________

"Surge." The hard voice welcomed him as he stepped in the small keep that served as a base for the Scorpion along the wall. The owner of the voice was tall, though not that much taller than Jeffrey himself, had short dark brown hair, battle-hardened eyes, and was missing one hand, the results of wounds taken during the breaking of the world. Fortunately for him, the missing hand was his right one, and he was left-handed, letting him free to fight still.

"Harper." Jeffrey acknowledged, his eyes equally hard.

"Why do you show up your lousy face here again, softy?" The man asked, his voice harsh.

"Probably because you don't want to see it." The answer came with the speed of lightning.

The man's face broke with a grin. "Great to see you again, softy." He smiled, his hard face noticeably softened. He was a deadly fighter, and along with Felicity Bearge, one of the two leaders of the Scorpion, but that was far from making him a heartless warrior who cared nothing about others.

"Great to see you too, Harper. Things quiet here too?" He asked.

"Like everywhere along the wall recently. Nothing happens, and we just keep warming the wall with our behind. Or cooling our behinds on the stones of the wall, depend of how you see it." he added, with a smile. He laughed, his real features clear now, rather than those he kept up as a facade. 

"Personally, I think it's the second version that's right." Jeffrey smiled.

"Yeah. Though I heard you had gotten bored with things and were going down there to have some fun?" there was the strangest sparkle in his eyes. "I wish Felicity would let me go instead of leaving me here with the troops."

"Someone's got to take care of home. I'd rather like to have some place to return to once we're done down there." With a grin, Jeffrey looked around.

"Yeah. Though with the dangerous threats we've been facing, a 2 years old kid alone and unarmed would be enough to make sure there's no assault." Ralph smiled. "Felicity's gathered the Black Talon, her own elite force. Sure looks like you guys are going on something big."

"Probably, yes."

They stepped in the dark hallways of the base, leaving the well-lit main hall. They were headed toward the main conference room, were Felicity probably waited, along with the rest of the troops that would come on the mission. Indeed, as the great oaken doors opened, she was there, waiting, a score of Scorpion troops waiting in the room as well as Captain Argun, the leader of the first patrol, and five Azalean soldiers. A pretty solid scouting parties, all in all, and one that might draw attention, unless special care was taken.

"All right." Felicity pointed to a map as soon as he stepped in the room, Naïa behind him. "The plan's going to be this." She pointed out the current base on the map. "We're here. We're trying to go there." She pointed at a vast zone red, shaped like a donut with the central mountains around the pit in the middle. "The people we're looking for have been operating within that area, so that's where we'll go search." Her terms were quick and precise. "We'll need someone to cover up for us, though. Avaraen activity is heavy around those mountains, so..." she left it hanging, as they all approved of the general idea of sending a decoy force. "General Falkner has agreed to send a small squadron of troops down there. A few of our troops will be added to that, led by Ashton Maxwell." Her stern eyes scanned the crowd.

There were no objections, and the troops quickly scattered through the fortress, efficiently gathering all the supplies that would be needed for the trek. Starspire arrows for the archers, food, spare weapons, there were a lot of things that an expedition, even one of only twenty nine members, would require. Still, the efficiency of the scorpion proved up to the task, and soon they were at the main gate, ready to walk down to the south.

The scorpions wore some layer of armor, protection against both those Avaraen that would possess a living being and use it as a weapon, and as well some extent of protection against normal Avaraen, as steel seemed fairly effective at absorbing their searing strikes. The armors were by no mean the heavy battle armor of knights, but still they were enough of an armor to protect them from the most obvious threat. In comparison, the Azalean troops wore only light clothing, of brown and black tones that matched the colors of the deadlands, an efficient camouflage tactic against those Avaraen that actually relied on sight. Against the others, there were no camouflage tactics that did any good.

"Are we all set?" Bearge asked a bit later, as the last of the troops went back in carrying the supplies.

"We're ready captain." One of the men reported. "Maxwell asked us to tell you he's ready too."

"Good. Let's go then."

They quickly assembled in the entrance hall, ready to head out. 

"Take care." Ralph talked swiftly and softly to Felicity, before leaving her with a handshake. 

________________________

The first few miles of the deadlands weren't too bad a zone, not that different really from the world on the other side of the wall, except of course that here and there traces of battle and of Avaraen crossing where lying around. The grass, what remained of it, was a sickly brownish green, or completely brown even, and only a few thorns bushes, blackened and lifeless, remained lying around. Here and there the ground went up in low hills, or down in small valleys, but those were barely even noticeable.

"Things are real tranquil around the wall lately...too tranquil." One of the Azalean commented. "Usually by here we would have sighted a few Avaraen - running away from us, sure, but we'd have seen them." He noticed, his eyes warily scanning the area.

"Right." Naïa agreed. "I don't like it at all..." Her hand was hovering close to the hilt of her sword, ready to draw and strike the moment a menace would appear.

There were no sounds in the deadlands save that of the wind, a soft howl racing over the land, empty of life save for themselves, and for the second party led my Maxwell a bit further west. No birds, no water, nothing except the wind and the sound of their footsteps on the dry ground.

The fact was that even with the lessened activity along the wall, they still would have to keep an eye out for anything menacing that would come after them, which perhaps explained the edginess of all the members of their group. They had no visible threat to keep them ready, therefore they had to imagine one in order to stand ready for any attack that could come. 

Jeffrey casually glanced at the tip of the halberd he held in his hand, watching carefully still the world around. The Azaleans were ahead, scouting out, using their experience in dealing with the deadlands to try to find enemies before enemies found them. The Scorpions were deployed in a double file on each side, flanking the pokemon that carried their supplies.

The first few days in the dreaded area weren't too bad, nothing serious happening, beyond a lone avaraen, sighted and shot before it could do anything. It had been too small to pose much of a threat, dispatching it was nothing more than routine work for the brown-clothed Azalean scouts.

As they made their way further south, a dark line of cliff appeared over the horizon, steadily coming closer to them as they continued. The cliffs weren't especially tall, nor especially menacing, but they did mark the boundary between the near deadlands, the area close to the wall where things were not too bad even when avaraen activity was worst than it now was, and were about to step in the deep deadlands. There were others layer beyond, the deeper deadlands beyond a second ring of cliffs, and even further, the real heart of the deadlands, the central mountains. But the deep deadlands were bad enough, except now in this new time of tranquility. Now, the deep deadlands were as much of a dangerous area as the near deadlands usually were just prior to a massive assault against the wall, which was still very dangerous.

There seemed to be shadows everywhere, tall dead trees providing perfect hiding places for Avaraen in the fallen dark forest. The scouts now moved closer to the group, holding torches around, watching for any traces of enemies. The scorpions eyes the world around them warily, while Naïa had her hand on the hilt of her sword, ready to draw rather than simply keeping her hands near the hilt.

A few more small avaraen appeared on their way, but were killed before they could react, and go to their allies. Of course, those were only the Avaraen that were found, and many probably remained beyond their sight, carrying off the information about the raid in their territory. The only thing they all could hope for was that Maxwell would do his job well, and manage to draw the enemy away from the important group.

As they cleared out the forest and reached the treacherous swamps that comprised a large part of the deadlands, Jeffrey caught his first sight of the true deadlands in a long time. Beyond the swamps, another line of cliffs, barely visible as a thin black line on the horizon. Behind them, a few jagged black peaks with an undying shroud of darkness over them, the central mountains, the heard of the deadlands, and the location of the great pit, the Avaraen spawning ground.

"That's a place we aren't going to visit anytime soon." Felicity shuddered. She had been to the feet of those mountains once, and obviously was not too interested in repeating the experiment. 

"Not if we can help it. I think we reached our search zone though. Captain?" He turned toward the man, casting a questioning glance at the scout.

"That's where we started encountering those traces, yes. Near here." He stated firmly, pointing a bit to the east. "Around there, to be exact."

"Very well. Let's go that way then. We have to find them, and I don't like staying in the deadlands anymore than we have to."

They slowly made their way in the swamp, paralleling the cliffs on their way to the east, carefully avoiding the deeper areas of the swamps, the one that held, according to all they knew, the most powerful avaraen of the area. 

Chapter 3

Sickly weeds grew everywhere in the depths of the deadlands, the area they were now exploring. They stuck out of the surface of the swamp like strange green hair on a disgusting greenish face, that of an horrible monster from a children book. 

"I really hate this place." One of the men commented. "It almost feel like something is watching us..." he whispered, looking suspiciously all around.

"Really, be serious. Nothing wrong here, we could waltz our way to the mountains and back...I mean, my scouts went there and back more than once already." 

The man should have known better than to tempt fate that way, yet he somehow forgot himself. Within seconds, and inky black tentacle was wrapped around his waist, drawing him to the water as a powerful being appeared. The creature looked like a strange cross between a crab and an octopus, a set of long dark tentacles coming out of a black shell.

"Kraken!" One of the soldiers shouted as another tentacle darted out toward them, only to be quickly sliced by a quick strike from Naïa. "Don't panic anyone!" She told them, her voice even, controlled.

"She's right, we need to stay calm." Bearge nodded as she drew her own sword. "Time to fight now." She added.

"Right." Jeffrey nodded. Around him, the Scorpions were arraying themselves for battle, slowly circling the edge of the little bay the Kraken apparently was in. The creature seemed to wait, patient, seeking out the perfect opening for an attack...

It would not get an occasion to attack, not if he had anything to say about it. His halberd raised, he made it appear as if he was about to launch a physical attack, knowing that Krakens were among the few Avaraen actually able to see things, not only to feel.

The Kraken readied itself to meet the attack, Tentacles held away as his seeping darkness seemed ready to swallow...The air seemed to fill with tension, both combatants waiting for the other to make the first move, both of them ready to put up a terrible fight...

"Down and away from the water!" Jeffrey suddenly yelled, diving to the ground even as he unleashed a fiery bolt of thunder at the brown water, causing riddling waves of energy and light to spread across it. The Kraken yelped in pain as the intense white flash washed over its body, and for a moment it seemed as if the light would do the trick of defeating it.

Sadly, that only lasted for an instant, as it soon recovered, a tentacle lashing out toward the young man who barely rolled out of the way as the black tendril struck the very place he had been in mere seconds earlier. That had been a close call, far too close for his comfort.

The tentacle fell off as a blade struck it, held by a scorpion, but Jeffrey knew that was only temporary respite, as more of the tentacles would strike. One more, no, two, coming toward him, on either side, not leaving him enough room to stay where he was, but already too wide apart for him to move out of the way in time...

Naïa was there, her blade slicing, and one more tentacle fell, the third out of the many the creature possessed. With that tentacle off, Jeffrey was able to slide of the way, the blow missing him narrowly. It had been a quick call, and only Naïa's cold blood and her sharp reflexes had saved him from near-certain death.

"Next time you try something like that, concentrate on being effective and not good looking." She advised him clinically, a quick advice.

"I thought you liked me being good looking?" He asked, while finally getting to his feet as the Kraken returned to playing the waiting game, knowing the moment had been wasted, and that it would have to wait more.

"I'd rather have you bad-looking and alive than good-looking and dead, to tell you the truth." The woman smiled as the Scorpion - those that had not been felled by other tentacles during his brief skirmish with the thing - were arraying themselves for an assault now.

"We aren't going to take down that thing easily..." he muttered darkly, realizing that the creature was just too powerful for their usual battle tactics to do much. It was reminiscent of the Valaurkor, the strange Avaraen they had encountered in the tunnels of Mount Silver, while looking for the last clue of the prophecies. Back then, one of their friends, a psychic with powers unequaled, had destroyed each tentacle in turn quickly enough to leave the creature defenseless. Back then, Ash had been able to finish the job with his soul gift, the abilities he had gained from receiving the soul of a pokemon, sending a beam of intense white light crashing in the creature. 

Now, neither of them were there, of course. Ash had been badly wounded during the fierce battle with Tremayne three years before, Jeffrey had heard nothing about him since then. As far as he knew, the young man could very well be dead by now.

Forcing his wandering mind away from stray thoughts, Jeffrey focused again on the battle. The creature seemed to be waiting still, but for what? Reinforcements? That was possible, and a chilly possibility. If other Kraken attacked, or even other Avaraen, it would be a pure slaughter of their troops. Yet somehow the general strategy of the Avaraen didn't seem to be that of a creature awaiting allies. No, if that had been it, it would have pulled back further away from the edge of the swamp, simply pinning them down instead of seemingly looking for an opportunity to attack. And the fact was, there seemed to be a feeling of urgency to the actions of the being, as if it knew that time was limited, but did not dare to attack yet...

It appeared as though the creature would make-do of forcing them not to go further, but would rather push them back if that could somehow be managed, or kill them. As if there was something they were not supposed to interfer with, but something the creature would rather they did not see entirely...

"It's not going to attack without an opening." Felicity called. "So..." Her sword fell from her hand, and she turned to grab it, her back now facing the creature...

Five tentacles flashed forward toward her blind side, moving through the air with sizzling speed as Jeffrey caught on and did much the same. From the corner of his eye, he could see more tentacles, flashing toward him, black lightning streaking through the sky...

The whistling sound of blade slicing through empty air suddenly was heard, followed by the shriek of pain of the beast as its tentacles were severed one by one by the rest of the group, which had just awaited the moment to take them out, knowing they would be open to attack.

"Great job!" He yelled at Felicity, as the creature bellowed another shriek of pain, rearing, even though no strike had been taken on the tentacles. It seemed almost as if something was attacking the Kraken from under the water. A tentacle flashed forward, randomly striking in any direction it could, lashing at empty air. More and more tentacles, as their group withdrew...

One of the tentacles charged straight toward him, and Jeffrey knew he had no time to run away. Desperately, he looked for some way to escape it, then suddenly felt himself pushed forward by some incredible force, landing face-first in the dirt a few feet away from the area the tentacle was now in. He looked around for his mysterious savior, but found no one who could possibly have pushed him forward.

Blazing light struck the tentacles, blue fire coming out in tremendous waves to ravage them as the Kraken futily tried to escape the torturing pain it was now facing. Its head appeared from under the shell, an ugly worm-like shape made of what seemed like black slime. It was one of the ugliest sight Jeffrey had ever seen, one that nauseated him, but he managed to control himself, though some of the men did not.

Rising out of the water with blinding speed, a hand holding a katana struck, neatly slicing the head at the base, killing the beast as it destroyed all of its inner system. The hand returned to the water quickly, vanishing from where it had come.

"I guess I should thank you all for luring that bugger out." A voice said, one he had heard once before, one he had expected to hear again after their probe in the deadlands. "We've been hunting it for a week, but it just stayed out of range in its lair."

A soft, barely visible glow around her, a long floating cloak in shades of red and gold on her shoulders, her once-white clothes now covered with dirt and mud, her brown hair held by a loose headband, May Oak appeared from behind them, making a way through the weeds that reached almost to her neck covering the southern edge of the swamp.

"Oak." He nodded, without a trace of a smile. She had brought much suffering to him once, and had saved him now. At best, the two of them canceled out and made for a neutral relationship, and only at best.

"Surge." She answered, not smiling either, though there seemed to be traces of pain in her eyes. From what he could see, she genuinely regretted the events that had taken place while she had been with the Crimson Lotus, but it was not something he could forgive. Not now, now yet. The pain was still fresh, stabbing, even four years after, and it would always be so with the reminder he bore in his soul.

"Glad to see you made it out." A voice called from the edge of the marsh, as woman stepped out. She had red hair, at least Jeffrey though so, from the little he could see under the sickly green weeds and the brown mud covering her head. Her clothes were, of course, wet and clung to her, revealing attractive forms, though he paid little attention to that. She had no cloak, but that didn't prove much, considering it would have been a major hindrance in the water. The katana she held was one Jeffrey had seen before, had heard legends about for years. One of nine weapons forged long ago, along with May's long sword and his own halberd, its name was Crest, and it had probably killed more Avaraen than all the blades held by the scorpion in their group. "For a while I thought we were all dead..." A strange longing was in the voice, one that Jeffrey had no problem understanding. "I don't know what happened to Ash still..." she shook her head.

May's expression changed for the briefest of instant, a mixture of pain and guilt, one that could only mean one thing. She knew what had happened to Ash, but had chosen not to inform Misty of it. And in turn, that could truly mean one thing, knowing Ash. 

"I've been wondering what happened to all of you for the last three years, too." He answered, carefully avoiding specific mention of Ash. May's eyes rested on him, a thankful look in them. She knew that he knew, and probably had expected him to betray her to Misty.

"I don't know." She admitted. "I think I caught a glimpse of Sabrina in Goldenrod, but I'm not sure, and I didn't have the time to find out before our ship left. To any extent, that was almost four weeks ago, before we got shipwrecked on the coasts of the deadlands."

"You've been in there for four weeks?" Bearge's voice was disbelieving. "How did you survive?"

"Badly. We had enough food with us, but between Avaraen here and Avaraen there, it was a serious fight for survival." May answered. "At first anyway. It didn't take us that long to get the trick of how to beat them."

"Of course the fact that they couldn't feel me so I could sneak up to them helped." Misty pointed out, taking an old rag from the hands of a scorpion who had fished it out of his bag and washing most of the mud out of her orange-red hair. "If it doesn't bother anyone, I'll go put on my dry clothes." She added, walking off in the tall grass.

"Have you heard of any of the others Oak?" Jeffrey turned toward her, trying to keep his voice from being too cold, knowing that the deadlands were no place to pick up a fight.

"Beyond Misty, I have no idea where the others are. Except Ash, of course." She shook her head, tears coming to them, though she brushed them away.

They were all silent for a while, and Jeffrey's mind wandered back to the problem they were now facing. He heard Misty coming back, in dry clothes and with her long cloak, and half-listened as Felicity and Naïa presented themselves, too worried about the why of the attack, about the puzzling behavior of the Avaraen.

A startled oath from one of the three remaining scouts drew him out. The man was using a spying glass to look at the dark bastion that were the central mountains, and apparently he had just seen something he did not like - something that was perhaps what the Kraken had wanted to keep them away from.

"What's wrong?" He asked quickly, receiving only the spying glass and a pointed finger in return.

Putting the device to his eye, he scanned the black wall of the mountains quickly, looking for the source of the surprise. Everything seemed black, though in various shades of black, from the deepest gray, to glossy, shiny black...

And some of it was moving. Looking at the mountains again, it became clearer, almost like a river of darkness flowing from it toward the deadlands. 

But only, it was no river, far from it.

A stream of Avaraen was coming out of the central mountains, headed toward the wall, for an assault of a scale greater than any they had faced so far. Nearby, Bearge swore as she saw it too.

"Looks like we're racing to the wall now." She commented, before releasing a single firework rocket in the sky, the agreed upon signal to Maxwell that they were done and that it was time to head back.

They turned away from the mountains, heading as fast as they could toward their home, praying the warning they brought would arrive in time. 

Chapter 4

Nothing would stop them from getting to the wall before the Avaraen, not with the grim determination to win shown by the various members of their little group. The sense of heightened alert had forced them to review their formation, that and the losses they had taken fighting against the Kraken in the swampland. Their formation, once very compact, was now much more lose. The supplies-loaded pokemon had been recalled in the few non-electronic pokeballs that they carried. The supplies had been abandoned, beyond what would be needed for a straight rush to the wall. 

Two of the remaining scouts edged ahead of the group, just in case another Avaraen army was already out, blocking their way, something that would prove disastrous, but that was fortunately highly unlikely. Behind them, the third scout kept a constant watch on the descending river of darkness, nearly as fast as them, barely allowing them to keep the two or three days of advantage they had.

The scorpions, the sixteen survivors out of the twenty, were arrayed in a strange crescent formation, covering the flanks of their group against anyone who might try to sneak up from east or west. The bulk of their forces, however, eight of them more or less, covered the rear of their group, as that was the direction the deep deadlands were in. The direction any menace would come from.

And of course, straight in the middle of that crescent, ready both to tackle any force that came at them from up front, and to move in to defend the front that needed help the most, their main fighting force, so to speak. May, Misty, Felicity, Naïa and Jeffrey himself, ready to draw their weapon to take on any attack that would come their way.

Rushing forward without pause, the way to the wall was far shorter than the way from it had been, as they no longer sought to make their presence as unknown as it could be, and no longer sought to find traces of enemies. They just struggled forward, only turning aside when the land straight ahead became impassable.

It took them a bit under a week, even going as fast as they could, where it had taken them nine days to make their way to the deep deadlands on the first part of their journey. On the fifth day after leaving the swamps, the uniform gray line of the wall finally appeared, soon followed by the towers of the Thorngate. By evening, they were on the other side of the wall, and early the next day, they were in Violet, carried there by wings of flying pokemon that were kept in the aviary of each of their bases.

"Surge, Bearge." Falkner welcomed them with short nods. "I've received your warning."

"Has Maxwell returned?" Felicity asked back. Obviously, she cared about her men. 

"He arrived this morning at the thorngate, I just received a message about it. How long do you think we have until they arrive?" He returned to the true problem.

"Two days. Three if we're lucky." Felicity's voice was calm as she answered.

"And where do you think they are going to hit?" He went calmly to one of the bookcase, drawing maps out of it. They covered the whole region near the wall, from Violet to Goldenrod, and then as much of the deadlands as was actually mapped out.

They all sat at the table, including May and Misty. The second, Falkner already knew was a gym leader, that much had been obvious, but he had equally obviously never met or heard of the first. Simply, he had been in such an hurry to discuss the incoming assault that asking about the new members of their little group had not yet come to his mind.

"I think they'll hit around Thorngate." Felicity pointed out the actual location on the map, the great fortress mostly manned by the warriors of Violet. "They were following us, and from where we were, a straight line to the closest gate goes right there.

"Assuming they go to a gate." May objected. "They have no reason to do so, they can just pound open another part of the wall, if they feel like it."

"Leaving us behind? Not a very good move." Falkner countered, peering at the map.

"No, just encircling us. As is, they can't do that because of the wall, so without even the possibility of a siege, taking out any of the castles will require a massive full scale attack that's not that likely to suceed." She took a stick and pointed out on the map the various bulky stone fortifications, most important of which were East Goldenrod, Thorngate and Murasakiiro Shiro.

"True." Falkner gave in, conceding the point. "But leaving manned enemy fortress behind is the most lousy mistake a tactician can make.

"Right. But once they are in, nothing stop them from coming at us from behind, and grind us on the wall. That way they eliminate the fortress without having to work hard on it."

"All right. Where do you think they'll strike then?" He challenged her, apparently starting to be ever so slightly annoyed by the way she seemed to know everything about the war effort. Listening to her talking, Jeffrey had no problem understanding how the young woman had managed to bring the indigo league to its knees.

"Two possible targets. Either here." She pointed at a location on the map, in the vicinity of Goldenrod. "That put them more or less out of range of your flying troops, but on the other hand, it means that once they're on our side, they have to neutralize both East Goldenrod", she pointed at the fortress on the coast, then at the island "and Goldenrod proper after that. Given their lack of anything remotely resembling a navy, not a good prospect for them." She kept silent for a moment as they all mulled over her analysis of the situation.

"And the other target?" Felicity asked finally.

"Here." This time, she pointed at the wall, just a few, three or four, hours away from the Shiro.

"That's insane!" He exploded. "We can be there in mere hours, they'll never break the wall quickly enough..." he added, defending his point. Jeffrey privately agreed with the analysis, but was waiting for May to explain her reasoning.

"True, but striking further west put them in quick intervention range of both the Shiro and Thorngate. Not something they'd want. If they can have the wall weakened enough by the time we get there..." She seemed to pause and think for a moment. "Actually, if they can do that, being close to the Shiro might prove an advantage. Facing them without the wall would almost surely be a crushing defeat for whatever forces go there. And once they do that, the Shiro is theirs, they have a secure eastern flank, and can strike across the peninsula toward Thorngate and Goldenrod, or north to Violet, without any problem. It would be their best move."

"What do we do about it then?" The question was not as testy as the last one Falkner had asked. 

"Easy. You force them to make the move you want them to. Do you want to face them at Goldenrod or here at the Shiro?"

"If there was a way to face them at Thorngate, I'd take that, it's our best fortress. Without that, I guess it's here, Murasakiiro Shiro is far better defended and on far better ground than East Goldenrod." He answered the question.

"Then you move your flying troops to Thorngate, so that they can cover the whole peninsula. That will nullify the major advantage of attacking on the other side, and force them here." She smiled. "And if you had wanted to fight it out at Goldenrod, then it would have been a matter of establishing a base of operation - not a fortress, just a place where you can maintain troop and where ships can unload - out there on those small islands." She explained. "So forcing them here is much easier."

"Doesn't that mean we're giving them the advantage fighting here?" Jeffrey inquired, though he already had an inkling of an answer.

"For the battle itself, no. If they win, it will be better for them to have fought here in the long term, but if we win, that's not a problem. So we'll just have to make sure we win." She smiled. 

They all looked at the map, except her, who was apparently deep in thought, as if she had already memorized all the important information and was simply comparing the different way she could see to deal with the situation.

"You should move troops there." Misty pointed out, looking at the map attentively. "That way it'll already be better defended ..."

"No." May objected quickly. "See, if he moves enough troops there to make a difference, first they'll know we know where they are planning to attack, and second, that will leave one of the fortresses underdefended. And at that point, all they have to do is come in, sweep over the under-defended fortress, and they don't even have to worry about us at that point." She explained. "The fortresses won't do us any good without troops in them." 

"True." Falkner added softly, nodding. "What's your plan though?"

"Where to they hit usually when they attack?" 

"Thorngate." 

"Then you move your troops there. As much of them as you can funnel without leaving any one of the fortress under-defended. They should be aware we know they are coming, so that's probably the reaction the expect from us."

"Right." Jeffrey nodded at the same time as Felicity and Naïa.

"Then, you move on a small force just at the point to set up traps. Have them fly there, that will save lots of time."

"What kind of traps? I don't think we can set up starspire stakes." Falkner brought up, but this time it was Naïa who answered.

"Maybe we don't have guns, but we still have some explosives that weren't made inoperative by the breaking. I know that some of the people at Thorngate used that trick a few time shortly after I joined the guard, before they stopped attacking." 

"Because explosions create light. Right, that work." Falkner nodded.

"Some of those fireworks you used in the deadlands Felicity. They would help in pretty much the same way." The young woman then turned toward the Scorpion leader.

"And of course we move in a few of those mirrors of yours Surge, along with those huge lenses." The woman agreed quickly.

Jeffrey smiled, remembering how he had forced them to hear out his plan to make huge mirrors that would be used to reflect firelight, increasing its intensity where it was needed. It had been hard to achieve that without the factories that had once made such, but with some hard work, they had been able to do it. The lenses had been taken from an old laboratory where they had been used for some kind of strange experiment, and their use was simply to turn the light focused by the mirrors in beams of pure energy. It was not as powerful as what they could achieve with using the sun instead of a fire, but at night, fires were, for the most part, all they had to work it. A few flashlights had survived the breaking, somehow protected from the electromagnetic shock wave, though barely, and they were now proving their worth as part of those weapons system

"With all that we should be able to beat them off." He stated. "If no one objects I'll go oversee the installation of that little base of ours personally. I'm the one who know how most of our weapons work." 

"Right. I'll go with you though, I want to get to know the battlefield and draw out an actual plan for the operation." May noted clinically, and though he was not really interested in having to work with her, he had to admit she was right. "Unless you have an objection to that, of course..." She left it hanging, knowing he disliked her, but his only answer was a quick shake of the head.

"I'll send Ralph with the fireworks then. He's probably bored to death by now, so some action will do him some good."

Their plans ready, they left the room, Jeffrey wondering for the space of an instant how or why May Oak had assumed command, deciding their tactics, planning everything....

He shook his head, decided not to think too much about it. She might not be the real leader, but she was the best tactician in the whole vicinity, and even though she had once been the enemy, he had to admit she was on their side now. Even though he privately hated her, he had to admit he would trust her to lead them to victory above anyone else he knew.

__________________________

Smoke came from the empty craters, as blasts of light struck out of the engines positioned on the wall. They had been used before to repel assaults at Thorngate, or so Surge told her, but May knew very well that alone they wouldn't have made the difference, not against the strength thrown at the wall now. In fact, those were not her own words, but Falkner, and as he had said them, Surge had simply stood there and nodded.

She had once wished that instead of trying to develop her fighting abilities, she had learned to heal, not to destroy. But now was too late to worry about it, she had chosen her path. And with the world falling in ruin, with Avaraen and bandits appearing everywhere to make trouble...

The world would need to use her for what she was gifted for - war. Sadly, she could do much more to change things with an army behind her on the battlefield than operating people in an hospital. It as her path to follow, just like it was someone else's path to become an healer.

The last dredges of Avaraen were slaughtered down below as another volley of fireworks struck true while the troops of the wall were now coming out on the field, weapons drawn. There would be little or no survivors in the ranks of the enemy army, and it would prevent them from coming back for another round for long months, years perhaps even.

"Where did you learn how to be such a good general?" Eisenstein asked her, coming near her once more. She had been afraid of the question coming up ever seen she had taken charge of things without asking, and now it was time to answer.

"In another life, I guess." She smiled inwardly at the misleading, yet true answer.

"I don't really believe in people coming back from the grave in any form...reincarnation, resurrection, whatever..." he opposed. 

"That's your choice. Personally I believe in it." A brief smile crossed her lips. Of course, considering the events that had lead to her death and her return to the world, believing in resurrection was not exact a matter of choice for her. It was a matter of knowing for a fact that coming back from the dead was possible.

"If you say so. You must have been trained somewhere though." He objected.

"I read a lot about it." Her evasive reply came. 

He shrugged. "Oh, well. It's the results that counts. However you did it, thank you." 

"You're welcome." She smiled.

"Are you going to stay here now? The wall could use someone like you to coordinate our operations.

She gazed in the emptiness of the deadlands, wondering if she wouldn't do better to stay and defeat other attempts from the deadlands as it could be done. Only, something tugged at her, some news that Surge had mentioned....She barely noticed Surge, Misty, Bearge, Naïa and a few others.

"No, I think I'll go and see what those Avaraen did on the seas. I don't like that at all." She finally replied, her choice made. "Misty?"

"I'll be along, of course." The young woman gave her a smile. "It's not like I have anything better to do."

"I think I'll go with them too Falkner." Surge surprised her. 

"Then I'll be going too." Naîa's reply was not surprising, not now that Surge had decided on coming.

"All right then. I'll go back to the Shiro to have them prepare a ship for you."

As he left them behind, May gazed once again at the now-empty battlefield, wondering how many men had lost their lives in the battle. It had been a victory, she knew.

She also knew it would almost certainly be only the first skirmish of a long war.

Chapter 5

A year ago, the valley had been just that - an empty, slightly lush valley by the sea in the Silver Mountains, close to the enlarged Bay of Pallet. A year ago. Now, twelve months later, the hard work of a hundred thousand Avaraen and enslaved humans had changed it to a marvelous city, a place of true splendor. Towers of the purest marble stood in the center of the entirely white city that sparkled under the sun, their golden domes glittering. A place worthy of an emperor. 

The emperor he would be, soon.

"General Starkhad. The Crimson Troops are worried about our new allies. Some of them whisper they might be demons, the same kind as those pokemon..." 

"Of course not." Starkhad laughed. The stupidity of those members of the Lotus who, despite the world situation, still continued to see pokemon as the true source of evil was simply amazing. No, there was much more evil in the world than those little creatures - and much more powerful.

"They are a sign from heaven. They are the warriors of God, sent to assist us in our Holy War." He smirked at the words, not believing them - but those who believed in that holy war would. Oh yes, they would. 

"Angels?" The man seemed hopeful. He, of course, was one of the believer. To him, the power of God - as if there was such a thing as a single entity like the one the Lotus claimed to follow - was enough to create any army if there was need.

Why God had waited so long to assist them in their holy war apparently was a question that limited brains refused to handle. 

"Yes, yes. Go tell them that." He smiled. "Angels have come to assist us in our war, and the heathens will fall." He felt like laughing, yet controlled himself. This was no time to laugh. "And tell my staff to come here." He added.

A moment later, they were all filling in, some of them people he had known for long. Butch Stryke and Cassidy Slauder took two of the seats closer to him, their scarred faces looking dark. They wanted to fight, to bring death and destruction to the world. Pure viciousness, and that was one thing lacking from many of the men that fought with him. Most of them had a few problems with the idea of serving with Avaraen, but these two enjoyed it. So did Syraelle, of course, but then, seeing as she was the one who had taught him the way of summoning, or at least the basics of it, it was no surprise. And of course Slayer, possessed by an Avaraen, would have no objection to fighting side by side with those of his kind.

The others tended to have those reservations, from Maren Telensky, once the high inquisitor of the Crimson Lotus, to any of his other commander. And of course, the best of them, their tactical genius, had the greatest reservations of all - reservations not only to fight with Avaraen, but reservations about the whole idea of fighting under the banner of the Crimson Lotus, and under Ethan Starkhad.

Unfortunately for him, the knife held to his throat - figuratively speaking, of course - by Starkhad, was more than enough to convince him to serve. Not willingly, but efficiently. He simply was not willing to pay the price of failure, and as long as he was not, Starkhad had his hand around his heart.

"What are the latest reports?" He asked around, wondering what their spies would have to say.

"The assault on the wall took place as you planned, sir." Telensky's voice informed him. "Most of the remaining Avaraen in the deadlands, against a lesser defended section of the wall." 

"Very well. What have been the results?" 

"Very mitigated results, I'm afraid." The young woman continued. "Apparently, the attack on the wall at that specific point was not unexpected. The troops of the wall crushed the attacking army, despite number disadvantage."

"Klaus? Your opinion of this?" Turning toward his main tactical advisor, Starkhad idly fingered his knife. A subtle but efficient reminder of what would happen to the young general's family, if he ever tried to cross Starkhad.

"They have a new leader. Before they always expected Avaraen at the fortresses, and the few time that the assaults were not there they were surprised and barely had the time to move in sufficient defenses. Someone else's in charge now, with more insight." 

"Disquieting news. The wall might be held against us for a while if this is the case.

"True." With a slow nod, the general focused his mind on the situation. A thousand factors were in the balance. "We'll stop attacking the wall. Let's concentrate our efforts on some easier targets to strengthen our position." HE finally decided. Of course it would have been nice to open a way between the pit and his new imperial city, Arvalon, but he could do without, easily. With the angiris he had summoned, there was no need of the pit. They could summon up the legions he required, if properly fed in blood. The blood of some of the worthless pawns who crawled at his feet traded for the strength of new avaraen. It was a more than fair deal.

"Very well. Now, to deal with those other targets." He smiled, looking upon the map. "Butch, Cassidy, my friends, you will remain her to command the defense or Arvalon. It is important enough for you both to do so. Syraelle..." He started, then noticed that the woman had a far away look on her face.

"Master, I am afraid Slayer and I must leave immediately. I have seen the path we have to walk, and it begins now." Her visions were always like that, cloudy, especially to those who only heard of them. "It has to do with the nine, and with the dark side of each element. The task our lord set before us." Her dark eyes shone under the light of the candles on the table.

"Very well. Do what you must Syraelle. We all have our own dark side, and all must stand to it." He nodded. The path that most of them followed, that of the dark elements, was not easy to follow. But they all had sworn to take it, whether it be for the power, or for the chance to serve. No matter how much they all wished otherwise, they were pledged to Rethen now, his to command in both body and soul.

"Thank you master." The woman replied, before rising, leaving the council room, the cloaked Slayer following her, hand on the hilt of his katana. They had their task to play, as he had his - he would command an army to take the world and bring it to where it belonged.

"Klaus, you will ready your troop for a visit to Indigo, Viridian and Pewter. These must be taken." His next order came, turning toward the young general. He had once been an enemy of the Crimson Lotus, had once brought his strategies to bear against those of Starkhad, before he had revealed himself as a member of the crimson Lotus, and not a Rocket agent. "And as always, keep in mind the cost of failure. You do not want to have to pay it." the quiet laughter that came along with the warning would have been enough to chill most heart. But somehow, the young man found the strength to resist the fear. 

One day, he would have to die, but for now, he still was of use to the Lotus, he still could do them all some good. For now. On the day this would no longer be true, he would take a delightful pleasure in bringing the young man and his family to the Angiris himself, that they might become valuable resources of another kind.

"I won't fail master. You know that." Bitter eyes watched him, flashing anger in them - but also reluctant, desperate submission. The young man wanted to fight back, but could not, not with his family held hostage, ready to die as Starkhad wished.

"Very well then. Telensky, you will ready your troops for an assault against Blackthorn and Mahogany. We will have Aysaka." 

He stood silent for a moment more, wondering what all the others should do while these two took their Avaraen legions to strike against various target. The Crimson Guard deserved to fight a last true battle, one where no other allies would interfere. But he would chose his battlefield, his day, and none seemed fitting as it was.

"You will also keep the Crimson Guard ready. I want them able to march on their target within two hours of me giving the order." He instructed the remaining generals in the room, those who had not left to ready their campaign plans.

All would soon be in readiness. And then, war would begin.

__________________________________

"Do not do unto others..." The old quote came to her lips unbidden as the vivid memories came to her mind again. They had no right to do it, no right to take the childhood away from her. But they had done it. At the time, it has certainly seemed logical enough, but now...now that they had done it, going in two years through what should have been over ten of them...

"We didn't do it." Kyle's voice came as he sat by her side.

"We convinced both of them to do it. Told them it had to be done. Remember?" Bitterly, she lashed at him with her words. His sweet, reasonable answers were not nearly enough now, they held none of the brightness they had once seemed to have.

True, they had not directly done anything to the young girl - now a young woman. True, they had only wanted the best. But they had brought about events that had altered things, changed the life of two humans beyond what should have been done. They had convinced one of the three who had made them to alter the flow of time once more, bringing life to one who should have died, making her old enough to face the world and not be taken down by the raging storms around her.

"She doesn't hate us. Neither of them hate us."

The voice of reason, again, or so she tried to convince herself. It was futile, nothing would change the way she felt about the whole matter. A childhood stolen, just like hers had been. It was something she didn't wish. 

Other had no memories of their childhood, forgetting it completely. But at least for them it had happened, and there was home of remembrance, that one day they would be given those lost pieces again. For her, for Kyle, for Sarah, no such thing. There were no forgotten memories waiting to be remembered, no half-lost piece of the past waiting to return. Their past had never happened, they had been thrown toward the future with virtually nothing to build on.

"What do we do, now?" Kyle's question was not unexpected, though it certain was one she would rather have waited before facing. "We can't stand here and do nothing. Not with the way the world is going." His eyes burned with blue fire. He was a clone, and the one he had been made from had been the bravest man their creator, Mewtwo, knew. Courage, tempered with a will to help out others, and a great amount of selflessness when the time to act came. As for Aimée, she had been a second attempt at making a clone of a young woman. The first attempt had been made at the same time as Mewtwo had been made, establishing a deep link between the two, a link that had resulted in her being made.

"True." She gazed at the valley below, pondering. They had both felt the disturbance, the echo of Avaraen being summoned in the world by the thousands, the hundred thousands.

Even now the constant echo still rang in her mind. She knew where they were appearing, knew this could not be allowed to proceed undisrupted for too long.

"We won't ever be able to get in their capital. The Avaraen would locate us and recognize the power we carry immediately, if that's what you're thinking of. I can't handle that many of them alone, and you can't either, even by freezing time." Kyle reluctantly pointed out, reminding her that the powers they carried, gifts from Mew and Celebi respectively, made them prime target for Avaraen.

"In other words, we tip in others about the location of the other Avaraen pit?"

"Yup. Though I doubt they'll be able to do much about it." He shook his head. "It's just too much. With all the Avaraen they should have there already, it would take a full scale assault of some kind just to get in. I don't think anyone can afford to lose so many lives over it as is."

"I don't think they can afford to have a few millions avaraen running lose either." She pointed out, though she knew Kyle was right. "They won't see it though. Short-term thinking. The bane of this world." She smiled sadly. For one who could see the flow of time passing by through her eyes, who could see everyone taking a step closer to death with everything they did, thinking only about now made little sense.

"Along with fast-food, pop music and preachers." Kyle smiled, though only for the briefest of moments. "True, though. They won't act even if we tip them in. I don't see any way to trickle down that flow. Heck, even if we got in, I wouldn't know what to do."

She thought on the problem for a short while, considering what, in fact, could be done. Certainly, they could not get in, not without some help. But...

An idea begin to form in the back of her mind. If she used someone else as a beacon to locate her target, it would be possible to unleash some of her power over time against the pit, perhaps even removing the defense enough for them both to go in and seal it.

"You know, that's not a bad idea you have there." Kyle, of course, did not bother to wait for her to actually put the plan forward, rather simply reading it from her mind. "With someone to act as a beacon, it would be possible to neutralize the pit. The question is, who?"

She did not answer, trying to come up with a plan to get someone in there who would not be noticed by the Avaraen, and who could find the pit. 


	2. Rebirth

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The Greater Evil IV : World of RuinsÂ   
  
Part 2 : Rebirth  
  
Chapter 6  
  
Blinding light welcomed the young man as he slowly woke up to the world around him. His eyes opened, the sight of a world like none he had ever seen welcoming him. A loose strand of black hair feel on his face, he slowly pushed it aside, his mind slowly trying to grasp the true magnificence of all that was around him.  
  
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The grassy hilltop he was on was of the purest emerald green, a grass untouched by the acid rain of human, the grass that his ancestors had seen, a thousand year ago, before pride and foolishness had ruined it. The sky was not blue, but seemed to be like a permanent glorious sunsent, all shades of gold, red, pink, orange and purple covering it. A small pool nearby was filled with water by a cascade, gently coming down from a the mountains to his left. A shining rainbow hung there, though there were no signs of rain or sun. A river was directly ahead, crystal water that sparkled, water purer than any he had ever seen. Beyond the water, an almost-magical city seemed to wait, towers of marble, or perhaps not, a material that seemed to gather the light of the absent sun and send it back to all the onlookers, making it seems almost as if the city as burning.  
  
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All around, the strangest beasts, creatures vaguely similar to a ninetales or growlithe, but brown, or black, barking. Birds of all color, fishes, but all of them seemed to have none of the power of the pokemon. The fishes were no seaking or goldeen, their bodies covered in scales. He had seen such before, but they were, usually, rare. The elemental power of the pokemon simply gave them an edge in the process of natural selection. A creature, almost like a stantler, but with many subtle differences, first and foremost in coloring, ran out of trees to drink from the pool of water, gazing at him with unafraid eyes.  
  
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The place seemed perfect, looked perfect, was perfect. There could be no complaining about the way the world around him was. Glorious beauty and peaceful serenity combined to create a place were one could live for eternity, in peace and enjoyment.  
  
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A heaven down on earth, the expression described it perfectly, leaving nothing out.  
  
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His breath caught as he realized it, his violet eyes blinking as sudden recognition came. No, this was not an heaven, nor down on heart. It was Heaven, simply. Memories, a moment obscured, came back, of the blade arching down to strike at Misty, and how he had intercepted the blow. A flash of darkness crossed the eyes of his reflection down in the pool as he remembered his long agony in the cave.  
  
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A deep sigh escaped him as his thought of this being the perfect place crumbled away. There was one thing lacking for perfection here, and without Misty there was no difference for him between heaven and hell.  
  
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All the beauty around him seemed to fade away as he fell to his knees, an hollow aching coming. A feeling of emptiness, of unbearable loneliness. The one thing he truly needed to feel at peace with the world was one he could not have. She was down on the waking world, alive and well. He was up in heaven, dead. A wrenching feeling struck him. The sky seemed darker, the water, stormier. The grass faded to yellow and brown, sickening colors. The water became murky, as if the awakening despair around him communicated itself to the rest of this world.  
  
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The vanishing beauty was no concern of his, he would not miss it, or only so very little that he did not mind it. Beauty such as what he had glimpsed before his mind had really awakened was not the kind he wanted to see. No, the beauty he wanted to see was that of a beautiful face, framed by splendid orange-red hair, the beauty of two sparkling aqua eyes filled with love for him.  
  
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"You miss her, don't you?"  
  
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He had not expected the voice, though he knew he should have. Turning slowly, he brought himself to face one of his fallen friends. Raven-black hair no longer tied flew in the wind as the young man's eyes sparkled, eyes of the same aqua as those of Misty, though they held only friendship for Ash.  
  
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"You miss my sister." It was no longer a question, but a statement. Ash did not answer, not yet, as he looked once more at his friend, noticing differences here and there, though few. The great weight that had once rested on his shoulders seemed to have vanished.  
  
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"Of course. And I'm sure you miss Elayne as much." He finally replied, his eyes gazing at the only traces of beauty left in the now-ruined world around him, the shining city on the other side of the now-brackish waters of the river.  
  
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"True." Damian sat down at his side in the strange grass. "I just try to keep in mind she'll be here. One day." He smiled sadly. "Not easy, I have to admit."  
  
"Disgusting, too, I'd say." The very thought of wanting for Misty to die, of waiting for it to happen repulsed him. No, he would not ever hope for that to happen. "I mean...how can you even think that way? Wait for her to die?"  
  
"Perhaps because the world is no perfect place, while once we are reunited, this would be. Because I know she's just as lonely down there as I am up here." Damian shook his head. "It disgusted me, too, when I started trying to think about it that way. But...that's the way it is."  
  
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They were silent for a moment, and Ash fought to convince himself his friend was right, but to no avail. The very idea of waiting for Misty to die, of wanting it to happen, made him want to run, to kill himself, if such a thing had been possible.  
  
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Tears of frustration rolled down his cheeks as the aching emptiness returned, a thousand time stronger than it had been. There was a price to pay for everything, and sometime the price made the thing worthless. He had saved Misty from death only to wait for her to die. The bitter irony made him want to cry in frustration and pain.  
  
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"Is there a way for us to see them?" He asked instead, keeping a tight grip on the raging emotions that flashed through him.  
  
"Not that I know. Not for someone who's been in heaven for only a few weeks, like us." He answered.  
  
"A few weeks? You died months before me, last I heard." Ash replied, surprised by his friend's answer.  
  
"Months on earth. For whatever reason, time flow slower in here than down on earth. So a week here is about a year there." The young man corrected, as Ash reeled from the information that destroyed swiftly and decisively all that he had thought about time.  
  
"So...I've been dead for a few years?" He finally replied.  
  
"Yeah, two and a half or so." Damian quietly answered, his eyes looking around emptily. "If that helps any, it will make everything seems to go by faster while you're waiting for Misty to show up."  
  
"In two years and a half...she probably forgot me already..." He felt as if the world had opened up to swallow him in jaws of steel.  
  
"Do you really believe that? That she would forget you so soon?" Damian's question was enough to calm down his fear. Misty would not forget him, she probably would not even try to find love somewhere else, would probably even refuse offered love.  
  
"No."  
  
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Silence filled the air again as they watched around. The grass seemed to be a bit more colored, the water a bit less brackish. The sky no longer as clouded. The chilling wind had died, and the weather was once more perfect, not too warm and not too cold.  
  
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"I think they'd give anything to be with us right now, just like we would do the same for them. I think too that they're doing whatever they can not to forget us, hoarding those figments of memories we left them..." Damian finally spoke. His "think" seemed to hide a deeper truth.  
  
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"Think?" Ash decided to ask rather than try to figure it out.  
  
"All right. I was told so, by someone who should know." His friend admitted. "No, that's someone who know, in fact."  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Who else? I think they decided me being the seeker and all that gave me some privileges." He smiled. "Or me having been the seeker, to be accurate."  
  
"What are they doing then?"  
  
"Misty's traveling around the world with May Oak, fighting off Avaraens and stuff. I don't think she knows that you're dead yet. Elayne, I dunno where she is, all I know is that she's alive."  
  
"Fighting off Avaraen?" The words put a whole new spin in the situation. Avaraen had not been so common at the time of his death as to pose such a problem.  
  
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Damian rose and walked around.  
  
"Things have changed since we died Ash. When you killed Tremayne - well, you already know it destroyed technology and the like. What you don't know is that it also open a kind of...rift...through the fabric of the universe."  
  
"Rift?"  
  
"A kind of door that let Avaraen seeps in from beyond the universe in our world." The explanation shed a new, dark light on the situation.  
  
"So, there are Avaraen all over the world now?"  
  
"Not yet, not as far as I know. Worst part is that Tremayne wasn't the only god to die, three years ago." Damian brought up the point as Ash began feeling sick. Everything seemed to have taken a turn for the worst since his death.  
  
"Which is the other one?" he asked in return.  
  
"Enaira." There was a sad trace in the voice of the young man, one that Ash could readily identify. It was emptiness, lack of focus. Damian had once served Enaira, the mistress of destiny, with her death he now was left alone. "And that means there are Avaraen on this side, too. Not many, but they're here."  
  
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Ash rose, walking in circles as Damian had done only a moment before. Avaraen in heaven were bad news, but it also meant he would have something to do, a war to fight - a goal to fulfill. Something to keep himself busy until Misty returned.  
  
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"I think I should warn you about a few things regarding Avaraen before you do anything brash. I found out a lot about them lately." His friend's voice interrupted his train of thought. "See, Avaraen aren't really shadows. That's how we see them in our world." He began. "In fact, though...it's hard to explain...it's as if there were two worlds, existing at the same time, in the same place, yet not. There are only a few things that exists in both universe - concrete, something extremely massive - like a huge wall or the world -, starspire. What makes Avaraen dangerous is that they exists both in a normal, animal form in the second world, and as a shadow that can harm without being harmed on tour side." Damian explained, as Ash tried to grasp the notion.  
  
"So when we swings our Staspire weapons at Avaraen...actually, we're swinging the weapon at the Avaraen on the other side."  
  
"Kinda." Damian nodded with a smile. "It's like a game of shadows, really. You are on one side of the drape, and you must strike at the avaraen on the other side using only the shadow of it you can see. But of course, the Avaraen, unlike you, is very existing on both side, and very conscious of how it can use its shadow to harm you."  
  
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The whole idea made sense, in a warped way. And of course the power of light would not really be that it would harm the Avaraen, but simply dispell the shadow, if it was strong enough to prevent the Avaraen from maintaining it.  
  
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Without another word, Damian took his hand and led him toward the shore of the river. Then, without pausing, he stepped in the water, water that seemed to open up for him.  
  
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"What are you doing?" Ash asked on the verge of panic, wondering if his friend was out to drown him, or simply to show him some wonder of heaven he did not suspect.  
  
"Showing you how to move around here." Damian smiled. "Just think hard about me." His friend smiled, continuing to advance in the water, only to vanish as his head became submerged.  
  
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Doing as he was told, Ash kept making his way forward in the strange giver. As soon as his head was under the clear surface, he felt himself being swept away by a current stronger than any he had ever felt, drawn toward a strange point of light.  
  
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His head broke the surface, and he strangely found no need for deep breaths, unlike any of the time he had found himself underwater for long in just such a way.  
  
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He was in a place so similar to the one he had just left that it was almost impossible to think of it as another place, even though subtle differences made it obvious it was.  
  
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"Welcome to my place." Damian smiled. "Before you even ask, each heaven is in the same place at once, and the differences in aspect comes mostly as reflection of the mind. Despairing minds will have a dark place, remorseful minds will have a punishing place, and so on. Stepping in the water basically send you in someone else's idea of heaven, if you think about that person hard. Otherwise, you can simply wish to be on the other side of the lake, and vlam, that's where you are."  
  
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Ash's eyes felt drawn to the city again, wondering why it was a place that was not part of any heaven. The shining towers sparkled still far away, seemingly calling for him.  
  
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"I think I should take you there now, since we're on the topic." Damian led a bewildered Ash toward the water again as the young man struggled to put together everything he had heard in the last few minutes.  
  
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The waters closed in on them, and catapulted him forward, toward the other side of the lake, as thoughts of the city filled his mind.  
  
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Chapter 7  
  
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A figure Ash had seen only once before but whom he recognized at first sight waited for them at the feet of the stairs that led in the city itself. Her elaborate white robes were not the one thing that drew the attention to her the most. No, that had to be the golden color of her body, sparkling under the ethereal light, the scales that covered it, just like those of a great dragon, and above all the vast bat-like wings on her back. There was a peculiar feeling of warmth around her, and the fire seemingly in her eyes was like that of the sun.  
  
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"My lady Leilia." Damian bowed before the Goddess.  
  
"Damian." The powerful being whose powers extended over light, day and summer nodded.  
  
"My lady." Ash's attempt at a bow was less successful than that of his friend, though not as disgracing as he had expected.  
  
"Ash." An amused smile appeared on the lips. "My champion." She acknowledged. "It's good to see you again, though the circumstances do not allow me to give you the hospitality one would be in his right to wait for from the Goddess he stood for on the battlefield."  
  
"Why so?" Ash asked back, puzzled. They had all eternity ahead of them in heaven, so why not? He had no particular desire to be treated in any special way, but the puzzling mystery remained.  
  
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"It's a long story, which began a long, very long time ago." She shook her head, her golden hair - or was it a mane? - flowing in the soft breeze.  
  
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"We have all the time in the world, and more besides, as far as I know. And for me to know otherwise, you'd have to tell me the story." He replied shrewdly. Damian chuckled at his answer, and Leilia merely smiled.  
  
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"True." She admitted. "It began before there was even such a thing as the universe, or as matter as we see it. At that time, there were only two primal forces. They were never created, they simply...they simply were. And they were struggling."  
  
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As her words reached his hears, Ash could see the fight taking place, not warriors fighting in the field, but rather two great oceans crashing in each others, tides and waves meeting tides and waves in an endless war of patience, darkness against darkness. One of the ocean seemed to be receding with each strike, made weaker by its nemesis.  
  
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"One of them, the void, eventually lost the struggle. But it wouldn't just die, no. It instead turned itself in matter." Her voice kept on as silvery dust sparkled form the fallen ocean, covering the other one. "Two consciousness were born from it, too." She added, and in the picture playing before his mind, Ash could see the two consciousness somehow, two beams of pure silver streaking across the emptiness as the surviving ocean expanded.  
  
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"The two consciousness used some of the matter to create a bubble instead the nether - that's the ocean." She explained, as the events unfolded before his eyes, the bubble appearing in the dark emptiness. "Inside the bubble, the two consciousness forged the first universe. Our universe."  
  
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As she spoke, Ash's mind seemed to plunge in the depths of the bubble, were new silvery sparks were seemingly created. Silvery sparks at the scale of the bubble, but as he watched them gathering in spiraling masses, the understanding that the he was in fact seeing the stars of the universe at the dawn of time filled Ash.  
  
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A second layer of the bubble came in existence, as if to offer a stronger protection against the crashing tides of the dark ocean.  
  
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"They build a second bubble inside the first. On the inside of the second bubble, they started creating planets and stars. On the outside, they made heaven, though it was nothing like this place now is. At the time, Asgard was a bit empty, and it remained so until much later. Which is the time we are getting at now. The two souls felt the need of using some more of the matter in creating more universes, but they didn't want the one they had created to stop developing." She explained.  
  
"What did they do then?" Ash asked the question, curiosity on his mind.  
  
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"What else? They made the four Gods. Tremayne, for the darkness of night, for rest, for death that comes after a long filled life. Me for light, for work, for day and for summer. We were meant to balance each other, light and darkness, sun and moon, just like Rethen and Enaira, Chaos and Destiny. One ordering the whole universe, making sure everything went well, the other making sure that some random chance would always intervene, add a twist to things."  
  
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"What's wrong in that though?" The question came out.  
  
"At first, nothing was wrong with that. We all played our part, and created animals on each of the planet, and pokemon on those closer to our realm, those where we could keep an eye the most on such powerful beings." The story went on, as Ash watched.  
  
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"But then, something terrible happened. Our parents left this world, as they had planned, and through the breach they had made to leave, which we couldn't close in case they wanted to return, the nether began to seep in the universe, ravaging everything, like..." The goddess seemed at a loss for way to explain the phenomenon, as Ash watched the story unfold.  
  
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Like a great river of darkness, the nether cascaded down into heaven, sweeping over the lush place, destroying everything. It was just like someone using a hose to wash over the chalk drawing of a child on the street. Just like it.  
  
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"I see what you mean." He replied, his voice broken at the destruction.  
  
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"It took all of us working together, with the help of the legendary pokemon - all of them - to push the Nether back where it belonged." She went on with her story, as the blast of power now filled Ash's mind, energy flying to repel the flood of darkness. Like a wall, it slowly repulsed it, pushing it back toward the original gap, ending the attack. "We sealed the gap, knowing we'd have to remove the seal one day, but that our creators could take care of things once that happened, and that as long as we were alive, the seal wouldn't come down."  
  
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Ash shuddered as the true reason of the problem became apparent to him. Of course, if the seal was weakening, there was no time to be wasted, a way to repair it had to be found.  
  
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"Of course, things didn't turn out quite right after that. First off, we found out about how...images...of the nether that left only shadows in this world had been left behind." She explained.  
  
"Avaraen." Ash nodded, understanding more and more about the mysterious beasts, both from what Damian had told him and from what he now had learned from Enaira.  
  
"And then..." She seemed to hesitate, shaking her head sadly. "And then Rethen, my brother, turned mad." She finally added. "It wasn't very obvious at first, but as time went on, he would insist that we stop watching the seal so closely. In time, we had to seal him, too, when he tried to break the other seal." She looked away, her golden hand brushing away a tear that was running down her face.  
  
"And he manipulated things so that some of the Gods died now?" Understanding flashed through Ash's mind.  
  
"That's a jump ahead in time, but yes. Though to understand everything, you have to know that at that point Tremayne and I disagreed about how we should watch the seal. I thought doing it together would be best, he thought he should do it alone while we rested. He always wanted to let everyone else rest while he took all the job." She smiled, though the smile quickly faded as pain flashed in her eyes.  
  
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"So you set up the contest, every thousand year, to determine who would have his way." Damian completed, bringing everything together to explain how things had gone from the events described to Ash being involved closely in the whole matter.  
  
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"So, he managed to free himself partly, not much, but enough to influence the world, only a little, enough to corrupt only a single soul, a thousand year ago." She went on.  
  
"One of the nine." The answer came to Ash, obvious. "And with that, they made it so that the results had no clear winner." The obvious truth struck him.  
  
"Exactly. And she managed to turn things so that Akira, in the end, fought alone, receiving all the powers. So my side won..." she left it hanging, perhaps wondering which one of them would understand first.  
  
"But using the ways of the other side." Damian was first, though Ash came to the same answer before it even finished leaving his friend's lips.  
  
"Yes. And so, since my victory wasn't clear, none of us was as strong as we should have been, none of us watched the seals as much as we should have. We were too busy debating what the real results of the fight had been. So Rethen was free to really influence the world, and alter things." there was a certain self-loathing in the voice of the goddess.  
  
"So, he got followers, and this time, he affected even more the results." Ash concluded.  
  
"Yes. He found a way to poison my sister, which in turn lead to you somehow killing my brother when destiny went haywire."  
  
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They were silent once more as the stories came to an end, leaving them with the situation the world was facing.  
  
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"So, I suppose the thing is, now Avaraen are everywhere, and the seals of both Rethen and the Nether are weakening?" Ash finally asked.  
  
"Yes. As long as I'm alive and Rethen is trapped away, the seal of the Nether will hold. But if the Avaraen manages to kill some of the legendaries...then Rethen will probably be free, and he'll come to kill me. Once I'm dead, the Nether gets heaven...and then one of Rethen's cronies down on earth, working with Rethen here in heaven, open the gates for the rest of the universe to fall." The clinical description of the problem chilled Ash.  
  
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"And we're letting it all happen?" His blood boiling, his mind raging with the will to do something, Ash rose to his feet. "We're not doing a thing?" He almost yelled.  
  
"It's going to be a fight for all of us Ash. And we'll work hard enough to avoid all that, trust me." Leilia replied calmly.  
  
"We?" Damian asked. "What's my part in all this?"  
  
"We all have our part to play. You're going to be fighting here, alongside me, Akira, and all the others." The Goddess turned toward him. "That's your part, at least all of it that I am revealing now." The young man nodded.  
  
"And what of me?" Ash asked, curiously.  
  
"I don't know what of you." She answered, her voice honest. "There's something strange about you here...something that tells me you should not be here, that you have your part to play somewhere else first."  
  
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Ash pondered her words for a moment, surprised by them. If he accepted what she was saying as true...was she really offering him the one chance he really wanted, a return to the living world, to his friend, and above all to Misty? It seemed too good to be true, yet confusedly he knew there were no lies in her words.  
  
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"The true soul prophecy." The voice that spoke was not Leilia's, but Damian. "The only human who died once, lived again, then died again." His eyes seemingly were filled with the light of sudden realization. "It had to be. It must be."  
  
"Thriceborn, once from the pain of a human, once from the tears of pokemon, once from the blessing of a god." Leilia nodded in turn, the same realization crossing her own face.  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
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They hesitated, their eyes meeting in deliberation, and Ash suddenly wondered how it was that Damian knew, and ever more so, how it was that Leilia seemed to want his advice on what to tell him as much as he wanted hers.  
  
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"It might be better if you didn't learn about it for now." Leilia finally decided, a frustrating answer if he had ever heard one. He wanted to know, not to be sheltered from the truth.  
  
"It's not that we want to protect you. It's that we might be wrong, and we don't want to twist destiny or anything." Damian agreed softly. The we sounded suspicious to Ash, almost as if unconsciously Damian was putting himself on a level with the goddess. He shrugged it aside, that was not something worth thinking on much. Not now, at least. He would come by the answer in time.  
  
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"All right. What do I need to do then?" He asked instead.  
  
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Another glance between the two, short, charged with meaning. Again, they were deciding on something together, again Damian was not even realizing that he was putting himself - or perhaps was being put - on a level with the Lady of Light. Ash waited impatiently, eager to hear news of his role in the coming war. He would fight, because he simply could not afford to stay idle and do nothing.  
  
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"We need to send someone down on earth to help. So far, that we know, only May Oak know that you are dead, so that makes you the best choice. Someone who is quite respected over Johto and Kanto, and who isn't really known to be dead." Leilia stated.  
  
"Why?" He reeled back, disbelieving yet exhilarated.  
  
"Someone needs to warn them...they are about to face a massive war, and it's for a lot more than they think." Damian replied evasively, for a brief while giving Ash the urge to strangle him.  
  
"I won't point out all the loopholes in that, Damian." He instead smiled. "But next time, please remember that I'm not stupid."  
  
"I know. But I thought that answering that would get the point across that we aren't going to give you an honest answer. You're going back down, unless you really don' t want to." The quick reply came. "Of course, that mean you will have to wait here for Misty instead of going to see her." A triumphant smiles appeared on Damian's lips as Ash cursed himself for allowing his friend to maneuver him in such a position.  
  
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"All right, I'm going. But I still think you should tell me what I'm supposed to do." He finally accepted.  
  
"Just follow your instincts Ash. They got you out of trouble many times..." Leilia was cut off by his answer.  
  
"And in trouble twice as much." He smiled briefly. "All right, I'll just follow my instincts. But if you don't like the results, complain to them, not me." He grinned, waiting to hear of their plan to send him back.  
  
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Chapter 8  
  
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"How long until we do something?" The young woman's voice bore in his mind, challenging his attempts at keeping himself from acting before the time was right.  
  
"I don't know Tomoyo." Gary answered, eyeing the world past the rim of the craters they had found themselves in. His long brown hair was loose, flowing lazily in the wind like the serviceable brown cloak he wore over his blue shirt and white pants. Besides him, Tomoyo's jet-black hair were tied on the top of her head, her silken blue kimono covering her, held at the waist by a belt of sort, which she insisted on calling an obi.  
  
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A soft sounds of paws on the dirt, one he would not have perceived without the extensive training he had been given by the dark-haired woman, drew him out of his thoughts. Hand on his katana handle, he whirled to face the source, finding himself looking at the stray espeon that had appeared in the crater months before, the espeon that seemed so oddly familiar.  
  
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It was something about the eyes, or perhaps a slight difference in the face from others espeon, but there was something odd about that one, about the way it walked around, as if it was not used to appearing as it did.  
  
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"We need to act now Gary." She used his first name again, rather than using a family name as she would usually do without being asked to do otherwise. He had been forced to ask more than once, and still she appeared reluctant to do so, as if afraid of establishing a bond between them she did not want. Or perhaps it was a bond she wanted, but could not allow herself to have. "It's just as with the sword. When the time to strike is right, strike. Do not wait." Her voice was half-hearted, as if she did not want to argue with him.  
  
"Tomoyo? What's wrong?" She had never asked him to follow her ways and call her by her last name, he had never offered to do so.  
  
"I don't want to talk about it now. But answer me. Why not strike, if the time is right?" she tried to drive him from the point that he really wanted to know about, the point that really worried him.  
  
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She was his ancestor, dead a thousand year before him, returning as a soul within him, separated from him when he had been carried through time by the spirit of nature, Celebi. Now they were both alive, and against his better judgement, he found himself drawn toward her. At first it had been only a good natured friendship, then protectiveness. Now, it was beyond that, love, despite the fact that they were relatives. Through a great effort of will, he forced himself to answer the question. "Because the time is not right enough. I'm waiting for one or two others, I know they're coming." He answered finally, his mind naturally drawn back toward the real problem he was now facing.  
  
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While it was true she was his ancestor, the problem was nothing like it seemed. The number of generation between the two of them made the link inconsequential. If they had been distant cousins with the same kind of blood relationship, no one would have cared - no one would have thought of them being related at all. But since she was his ancestor reborn, it was something else entirely.  
  
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He loved her, and all the true obstacles between them seemed to be worthless philosophical obstacles. But somehow, something seemed to hold him back still. Perhaps it was memories of his girlfriend of a day, dead five years before a few hours after they had admitted their love for each other. Maybe.  
  
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"You feel it too." She suddenly spoke again.  
  
"What?"  
  
"The feeling of being drawn to me, just like I'm drawn to you." She stated. "Love..." her whisper was barely audible.  
  
"Yes." He admitted. "I've been thinking about that a lot." He added, wondering and worrying about how she would react.  
  
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She sighed, her eyes looking at the empty horizon. "I don't know what to do about it Gary. I just don't know."  
  
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Clouds gathered in the sky overhead, and they had no choice but to head back down toward their cave in the crater, where Gary's pokemon waited for them.  
  
__________________________  
  
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"All you need to get back is simple, really." Leilia explained to him, watching him closely. "You need the blessing of a God, the help of the Phoenix - the guardian of the gate - and to get to the gate of heaven. That's all." She smiled.  
  
"Great. So now you bless me, we go find the gate, I go through it, then do whatever I feel like."  
  
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Damian laughed. "That's about it Ash. And for once you're right, it's going to be great - would it only be because it will be easy."  
  
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With a shrewd look at his friend, Ash wondered how much he had changed. Laughing out loud had never really been Damian's style, nor sarcasm.  
  
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The idea that he was returning to the world, the place were Misty was, finally really came to him, the realization that he would meet her again before her death, that they would be together. He had heard Damian's words earlier, but in the surprise of the moment they had not really registered on his mind, occupied as he was with the offer.  
  
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The very thought of seeing her again, of being once more with her sent a warm feeling traveling through his whole self, a feeling of contentment to come. He would be where he belonged, and nothing could change that, not even the end of time itself.  
  
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"I think that account for the dark path leading to happiness in the end, right?" His eyes looked inquiringly at the goddess, a smile on his face.  
  
"I would say so, yes." She rose, leaving him forward through a strange maze of empty streets. For the briefest of moment Ash wondered why there was such an empty city in heaven, then abandoned the idea, simply following. "If you had chosen to live, Misty would be dead. The world would be in a bit better of a state, but there would be little hope of healing it further." The answer was the one he had expected. He knew which choice he had made, had realized even before he asked how it was the right choice.  
  
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"Are you ready?" Leilia's question came as he looked around once more, wondering what he would have to do once he would be back in the world. He drew his sword, carefully examining the gleaming blade, pleased to see it had not been damaged, a perfect metallic sheen reflecting the light that came from nowhere.  
  
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"I am." He answered as the goddess watched him intently again. She seemed to be now considering something, and turned toward Damian, whispering a few words to the young man.  
  
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"All right." He nodded, and ran back toward the part of the city they had first come to.  
  
"There is something I want you to have before I leave Ash. It's not a gift, not really. More like a task I have to give you." She smiled apologetically.  
  
"Another." He mockingly rolled his eyes, not surprised at all that they had more to put on his shoulders, and not bothered much by it.  
  
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They waited for a few moments, not talking, not doing anything but watching the world around them all. Heaven was a surprising place in many way, Ash had noticed even before Damian had come to see him, but now, more surprise seemed to come with every second. The city, he finally realized, was not made of a material that reflected light, but of one. Looking back at the world around the city, he could see nothing save the mountains behind the city, empty, and one island away from it, strangely small.  
  
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The mystery of how such a small island could hold all the souls in heaven for so long was puzzling, until realization came that the Gods could bend the rules of creation that normally worked on earth. And unless he very much missed his guess, the process with heaven here was the same as the process Avaraen used to fight. There were many planes, all at the same place. A single human could only be in a given one at a time. In heaven, all humans were in their own plane, and the city in yet another. The water, somehow, carried them from one of the plane to another.  
  
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"Very perceptive Ash. I don't think many managed to understand that system so far, and none of them so quickly." The goddess complimented him.  
  
"Thank you." With a smile he turned, noticing Damian coming back toward them. "There's one thing I would have liked to do before leaving this place though. Pay a visit to Gary and all of my other dead friends." He stated a bit sadly, realizing that in the excitement of going back, he hadn't thought about being able to see some friends long lost here.  
  
"Really? Who?" There was a sly smile on Leilia's lips.  
  
"Gary. Duplica. My mother. Lots of others." He replied, the names not coming. "Richie."  
  
"Gary Oak never died." The words stunned Ash, though he had suspected such a possibility already, talking with Misty in an hospital after the terrible skirmish with Avaraen in the ruins of Pokemopolis. "The First of Time, Celebi, carried him to safety, with the help of a young woman she had created with the help of the Neverborn. However, I can say that you will see your friend again very soon."  
  
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A smile breaking on his lips at the idea of being reunited with his best friend, once his nemesis, Ash barely remembered that Gary was not the only one of his fallen friends. "What of my mother? What of Richie?" His questioning glance caused the goddess to smile.  
  
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"I don't think there's time for you to meet your mother, sadly..." She looked at him. "As for your friend, he is not here either, though he would rather be...if he had enough of his mind left to even think of that, at least." The deity shrugged sadly. Ash listened to her words, horrified as he began to realize that what had happened to Richie was nothing they had suspected but something far worst, far darker.  
  
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"What of Duplica? The others?" He asked finally after a few seconds of horrors, trying to break his mind away from the dreadful knowledge.  
  
"There is no time for it Ash. As soon as Damian returns, you'll have to go back. Every minute is important now, I believe." The Goddess finally admitted, recognizing in the same breath that she had simply been trying to stave him off by talking about those he could not meet for whatever reason. Closing his eyes, Ash tried to hold back the tears that nearly came.  
  
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"Here I am." Damian's voice brought him back to awareness of the world around. His friend was walking up to them, holding in his hand a strange scabbard with a katana inside, though one very different from Ash's own.  
  
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The hilt was silver and black, a dark stone glittering at the end of it. The guard was of the purest black, the same black as the little piece that brought together blade and hilt. The blade itself was metallic silver, glittering, shining like the moon as it returned the fires of the city around them. It was a sword Ash knew well, too. On that day, when they had met Tremayne in battle, it had been the sword that had sunk deep in his flesh, opening the wound that had later killed him.  
  
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"Why?" He asked softly.  
  
"You need to find a new bearer for that sword. We need to, but someone needs to go back with it, as I'm sure the new bearer is not dead yet. He might not even be born yet, as far as I know. In the meantime, it's a second, better weapon for you to use." She explained. "Though be careful with it. It's the Azrael blade, the sword of the angel of death - another name my brother had. And it wants to kill, so I wouldn't use him against someone I'm planning to keep alive. Only a God can control it enough to not kill with it, and you aren't that." She warned.  
  
"So, I take it, use it when I want to, and find someone else worthy to carry it and take Tremayne's job, right?"  
  
"Yes." The goddess moved aside even as she answered, revealing the golden bird waiting behind her. Golden, yet at the same time seemingly made of rainbow. Ash had seen him once, as he had left on his pokemon journey.  
  
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The bird looked at him, his eyes seemingly filled with ancient wisdom, eyes that knew everything, that had seen everything. With a short nod, the bird rose in the sky, opening the way to a strange portal that seemed to call Ash. Behind him, light. Ahead, darkness waiting, and the strange call of the dark sword, seeming to push him forward.  
  
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Without hesitation, he walked in the portal, returning to the waking world, his friends, and above all, Misty. It was time.  
  
____________________________  
  
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"There are Avaraen around the city my lady." Damian reported as soon as Ash was gone.  
  
"I know. The war has begun here too." The golden half-dragon figure answered softly, looking at him.  
  
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Watching around the city, Damian wondered if he should bring up the question that was left, the one thing that worried him about what had just happened, the one strange thing he had noticed.  
  
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"You did not bless him." He observed, earning himself a sharp glance from the goddess.  
  
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"No, I didn't." She nodded. "Observant of you. But the blessing he is to receive was never mine to give. He already had the blessing when he came here. And the task I gave him was one that was already his anyway."  
  
"I suspected it might be." Damian nodded, then turned back toward the city. Around it, the strange shapes of Avaraen were already moving everywhere.  
  
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Heaven was at war, and it was time for all those who were there to gather and fight back.  
  
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"Gather Akira, Faile, the others. It's time to get ready for battle. And plan our defenses." The goddess' voice echoed his thoughts.  
  
Chapter 9  
  
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The feeling of cold stone under him greeted him as he woke up again, and as his eyes opened, he knew that what he had heard in heaven had been no dream. The simple fact that he was back in the waking world, older than he had been upon leaving, the marks of three more years added to his body, was clear enough on this. And of course, the fact that he was back in the cave in which he had died definitely added to his certitude.  
  
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"Ash!" A roar greeted him as he woke up. "How..." the voice of his great fire dragon greeted him. "You're back!" Deathwing apparently had decided not to bother finding out the how or the why of the most unexpected return.  
  
"Deathwing!" Ash grinned back.  
  
"Hello again Ash." Celes' soft voice welcomed him as the pidgeot came up to them, standing close to Deathwing.  
  
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Looking around, he could see all of his other pokemon, or nearly so. Esper, his Kadabra was deep in meditation, sitting at the entrance of the cave. Rafael was bathing in a little pool that seemingly had formed from rain water in a part of the cave, though Ash suspected strongly the rain had not been natural, remembering the Blastoise's less than usual strategies in the gym leader tournament.  
  
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A few scattered egg shells in the back of the cave drew his attention and a smile as he realized some of his pokemon probably had reached parenthood by now. Noticing the way Deathwing and Celes were looking away from him as he watched the eggs, the conclusion that they were two of them - and probably together - was easy to reach. For a moment he wondered if the offspring would be charmander, pidgey, or a cross of both parents before shrugging off the question.  
  
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Aysen watched him intently, his dragonair's eyes betraying no emotions, his face neutral. There had never been much love between the two of them, the dragon only forced to follow him because of the prophecies, though they had managed to develop some grudging respect for each other. The same respect, just as grudging, that existed between him and his gastly, Khamul. Ash had captured the pokemon during the battle against May's crimson Lotus at Maiden's peak rather than letting it be slaughtered by her forces.  
  
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Morro, which had once been Gary's arcanine, was there also, her great eyes watching him intently. Besides her, three pokemon were waiting, two babies and one larger. The babies were a houndoom female, indicating more than clearly who the father was, and an arcanine male. The larger one was, surprisingly, already evolved, and even more surprisingly, in the shape of a Wolspire, the strange wolf-like pokemon he had seen a few off, part fire and part psychic, related to houndoom in some strange way.  
  
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"Hello Ash." The voice from the entrance of the cave was another he knew, and he turned to see Fenrir, his houndoom, walking in the dusty tunnel.  
  
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"Fenrir!" Elation filled him as yet another of his old friends returned to him, the great black wolf-like creature walking in with its two pearly white horn-hear glittering. "I suppose these are your children?" He asked, pointing at the babies near Morro, getting a nod for an answer from his pokemon.  
  
"The Houndour is Shaylir. The Growlithe is Kyra. And the Wolspire is our first-born, Shaolan." The dark creature seemed filled with pride as he presented his offsprings. "Shyela, Kylsen, Shaolan, this is Ash, my trainer." He turned toward his children.  
  
"Pleased to meet you Ash. I have heard much about you." The Wolspire looked at him, his eyes unreadable.  
  
"Ash? Ashes? BURN!!!!" Shaylir grinned, spitting fire around.  
  
"Burn!" Kyra agreed, happily unleashing flames on unoffending rocks.  
  
"Children." Shaolan watched them, this time a twinkle of amusement in his great golden eyes as Morro and Fenrir shook their head.  
  
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The two pups continued running around, sending weak embers here and there randomly, for the better part of an hour. The sound of hooves connecting with the rocky soil drew Ash attention away from them after a while, and he turned to face his Rapidash, Sora, her golden eyes and burning mane still the same as they had been the last time he had seen them.  
  
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"Master." She lowered her head gracefully, receiving a gentle touch on her forehead. "I am glad to have you back." Her eyes shone with happiness.  
  
"I'm glad to be back with you all, too. Where are the others? Asura and Raiken?" The question came out.  
  
"Ashura is probably off hunting. She grew a lot since you last met her." Fenrir reported, with a nod from Deathwing. "She is probably along with Luna." The great dragon added.  
  
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"Luna?" Ash interrupted him.  
  
"Our daughter." Celes smiled, and Ash needed no explanation to understand that the our referred to her and Deathwing. He had suspected long ago the hidden attraction behind the banter of the two pokemon and now he knew he had not been misled.  
  
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"And what of Raiken?" He remembered his first question, and watched, a chill growing in his heart as his pokemon traded uneasy looks.  
  
"We don't know what happened to him." Deathwing finally answered.  
  
"He never made it here." Celes confirmed. "He was separated from us because he was not in his pokeball during the breaking...I think one of the others grabbed him and took him to safety." She explained. "At least...I dunno. I think I would know if he was dead...I..."  
  
"You know, I think he can figure it out already from what you said. He did receive the soul gift of the grand-son of one of the Firsts." Aysen mocked.  
  
"I know. I am sworn not to reveal it right out, but there is not rule about giving him enough hints to figure it out." Celes shot back.  
  
"Cheater." The dragonair accused, his eyes filled with mischief.  
  
"As I said, no rules against what I did." She answered again.  
  
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Ash pondered her words, searching the depths of both his mind and the mind of the great dragonite who had gifted his soul to him, transferring all of his knowledge and power into Ash as death took him. Becoming one with the consciousness as he had done so often before to tap in its powers, Ash felt something he had never noticed until now. At the edge of that consciousness, a larger one stood, one that seemed to be the combined consciousness of all pokemon, dead or alive.  
  
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And somewhere in that jumbled mass of consciousness, he could feel Raiken's consciousness, the consciousness of a living pokemon, not that of a dead one. Specific details were beyond what he could feel, but the pokemon seemed to be safe for the moment, which was as good as Ash could ask.  
  
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"I see what you mean." He breathed, utterly amazed by the discovery he had just made. "It's...I never thought there could be such a thing..."  
  
"I know." The bird nodded as Ash tried to draw his mind away from the new realization.  
  
"Esper, can you feel human presence in the vicinity?" He turned toward the psychic pokemon still meditating.  
  
"Yes, master." The emotionless voice came back in answer.  
  
"Where are they?"  
  
"We stand in a cave on the outer face of a crater. Humans live inside it." Her reply came swiftly.  
  
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Two shadows appeared at the mouth of the cave, and Ash watched in stunned amazement as two dragon-like creatures landed. One had the body of a dragon, but instead of a standard dragon mouth, she had the beak of a bird, and her wings were made of feathers instead of the traditional bat-like wings. Looking back at Celes and Deathwing, he could easily realize that the first was Luna, which made the other Ashura. Except, of course, that she had very little to do with the Ashura he had known, or with any of the numerious possible evolutions of Eevee.  
  
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Red-gold scales covered her body, and a flowing golden mane was behind her head. Standing on her hind meet, she was taller than Luna, herself taller than deathwing, and her golden bat-like wings were slightly larger than those of either pokemon. Her head was closer to that of a lion than to that of an Eevee, though with hints of the terrible faces of the usual dragon, such as Charizard.  
  
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"Ash!" She shouted upon entering the cave, rushing to him despite her size, nearly knocking herself out on one of the many rocks hanging from the roof and knocking the air out of Ash as she roughly and clumsily hugged him.  
  
"Hi Ashura! Great to see you too..." He tried to breathe despite the pressure on his back.  
  
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"So you're Ash." Luna observed as Ashura released him. "Great to meet you." She smiled.  
  
"And you're Luna." He nodded, returning the smile. "Glad to meet you too."  
  
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"There's something odd about the humans in the crater. Familiar." Esper's voice reminded him of the one thing he was truly after, finding a settlement of some kind or at least humans that would be able to help him find his friends.  
  
"Familiar?" A surge of hope came to him as the thought that perhaps the humans in question were his friends struck him.  
  
"Yes, but oddly. As if they should not be two presence. It's hard to explain."  
  
"There's only one way to see." He decided, his tone calm, though a twinkle of excitement remained in his eyes. It was good to be back in action, to actually do things again. "Celes, care to fly me up there?" He turned toward his pidgeot. "Or you Deathwing?"  
  
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"Of course!" Celes replied at once. "Climb on." She smiled, or would have if her body had allowed her to do so. As it was, her eyes were enough of an indication of her emotions.  
  
"The rest of you, can you find a way to go there?" He turned toward his other pokemon. "Or would you rather that I carry you along?" He drew his sword, an ancient weapon that had at the time been designed to be able to store pokemon inside just as they could be stored inside a pokeball.  
  
"We can find a way to go inside the crater." Fenrir answered confidently. "We'll meet you there."  
  
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Rising on her great wings, Celes bolted upward as soon as they were outside the cave. His hand clasped tightly around her, Ash felt the cold wind rushing past him, and exhilaration filled him. He had always loved flying, and now with the feel of the cold wind against his skin, it made him feel more alive than ever before. He laughed, the sound of pure joy coming from him. He was alive, and no matter how bad the world was now, things would get better. He would be with Misty again, would find all his friends. Everything would get better.  
  
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He barely noticed as they flew over the rim of the crater, would not have noticed it at all if it hadn't been for the two human figures talking down on it. One of which he knew very well. With a nod from her trainer, the great bird slowly flew down, setting on the crater rim.  
  
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"Gary!" The happy shout reached the male figure who whirled, a grin splitting his face as he recognized the person calling him.  
  
"Ash!" He grinned back.  
  
"Great to see you again Ashy-boy!" His friend teased him, winking as he did so.  
  
"Great to see you too Gary. Hey, never expected to see you again this side of heaven." With a smile, Ash caught his friend's offered hand, an handshake that meant a lot to him. The renewal of a friendship lost, recovered, and lost again, one that meant a lot to him.  
  
"Honestly, when May shot me I didn't expect to see you again this side of death either." Gary answered, laughing.  
  
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"Ash." The voice was warm, welcoming. "It's great to finally meet you in person." The woman who had been with Gary and, until now, silent, spoke. Her clothes and eyes marked her as an Hoshoan, something only confirmed by the two blades that hung from her belt.  
  
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"Who are you?" He asked confusedly.  
  
"My name is Tomoyo, of the Ookido family of Hosho." She answered.  
  
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The name jolted at something in Ash's mind, no, not in his own mind, but in Tairen's mind. Focusing upon the memory, he tried to recall what it was. Images came of the same young woman, fighting alongside the nine of a thousand year before.  
  
"How can you be alive, Ookido-san?" He asked, remembering that she had died a millenium or so before, and at the same time remembering the Hoshoan etiquette that required the politeness he now was using.  
  
"I don't know." The answer was honest, or at least appeared so.  
  
"Her soul was inside me, somehow." Gary explained shortly. "Like your soul gift, in a way, I guess. When Celebi carried me through time, we were separated, for some reason." He eyed Ash, waiting probably to see if his friend would react to the mention of one of the Firsts. "Something's strange with you Ash." He finally noticed. "I mean, you run in your best friend, supposedly dead for a few years, and you act as if you expected to see him all along. Then he tells you that he was rescued from death by the only creature able to warp the flow of time, and you act as if its natural....I mean, people who're supposedly dead don't tend to show up randomly..."  
  
"Strange then, that makes four I meet in the last three years." Ash smiled.  
  
"Four?" Gary's mouth dropped open. "Tomoyo, me, and..." His eyes suddenly opened. "Ah, yes. I forgot May was back. I suppose you met her?" His eyes twinkled as it was Ash's turn to be surprised.  
  
"You already knew about your sister?" He forced the words out of his mouth.  
  
"Of course. After all, the members of the nine should keep in touch with their oracles, uh?" He grinned as Ash's felt his mouth dropping open.  
  
"You were her oracle?"  
  
"I think I told you so, didn't I?" Gary continued to grin. "Anyway, who's the fourth?"  
  
"Oh, no one really important." Ash smiled as he answered, retaliating for the volley of astonishing new Gary had just unleashed. "A random pokemon master...black hair...wear a long blue cloak...used to have a pikachu...one of the nine...you might have heard of him..."  
  
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As his friend's face dropped open, Ash could not resist anymore and started laughing at the astonished expression. Gary soon joined in the laughing while Tomoyo looked at the two of them as if they were dangerous and insane.  
  
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"So if you're dead, why are you back?" Gary finally asked after they had both laughed for a while.  
  
"Oh, to make a long story short, went to heaven, had some fun there, went back here because they decided they'd rather let me save the world instead of doing their own dirty work. Well, by me I mean us, of course." He answered in an offhand manner, a feeling of warmth he had not felt for a long time coming over him. There was a link between him and Gary, one hard to define, not a link of love, something different, a friendship deeper than any he had ever heard of or experienced. And it was one that Ash had terribly missed over the long weeks after Gary's death, one that only came back now at last.  
  
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A new confidence surged through him, renewed strength. Between the two of them, him and Gary would be able to slaughter most opposition, if they ran in any such. Once they joined with the others, and Misty especially, there would be nothing to stand against them.  
  
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Chapter 10  
  
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"So, how do we save the world anyway?" Gary finally asked as they made their way in the crater, toward what he described as "his little home".  
  
"I don't know." Ash shrugged. "You know, it's one of these things "the hero followed his instinct and the counsels of a wise advisor..." thing..."  
  
"Geez, we'd better find a wise advisor because I wouldn't trust your instinct with walking from one side of the street to the other without getting lost." Gary smiled.  
  
"Hey!" Ash protested, playfully punching his friend in the ribs.  
  
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They walked down in the crater, crossing trees, a cascade, and more wonderful scenery. It was an altogether lovely place, and one that seemingly had not been at all affected by the breaking. So peaceful, so quiet...Ash could easily see why Gary had stayed in there all those years, almost perfectly content to wait. Almost, because deep inside, he would almost certainly have felt the same need to be in the action that always burned inside Ash.  
  
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"Well, how do people usually go about saving a world?" Gary who, apparently, was still thinking about ways to save the world, asked.  
  
"I don't really know...I mean, it's not like our world needed saving all that often..." Ash shook his head.  
  
"Well, do you happen to have a gold ring handy?" the next question came with a grin, a signal that it was time for the two of time to wage a war of humor again.  
  
"No..." Ash replied carefully, wondering what his friend was about to say.  
  
"Shame, we could have gone to Cinnabar with it. I heard throwing a gold ring down a volcano can do wonders for the world." Gary's eyes shone with innocence as he let out the reference to a novel they had both liked.  
  
"Nah. I don't suppose you know some half-human girl who's also the last living member of some ancient and powerful specie, right?" He asked back, shifting from novel to gaming.  
  
"No, and I don't know a vilain with long silver hair and a black coat either."  
  
"Nah, that part of it's not a problem, we can always ask Tanya. I'm sure she'd be nice enough to give us a hand." Ash shrugged, remebering his slightly younger cousin, Tanya, a young woman who always wore tightly black clothes, a long black coat, and had long silver-white hair, like her mother. She had a tendency to hate all men, though Ash apparently now was some kind of special exception.  
  
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Gary laughed, his eyes shining. "Right. Then find me the city of the ancients and a northern crater and we can go along with that plan. Provided we get your half-human girl, and find Tanya again, of course." He stopped, thinking for the briefest of moment. "We would almost do better to find a starship and fly it to the Dagobah system." He smiled.  
  
"And then spend years there looking for a jedi master?"  
  
"That's about what I had in mind." Gary admitted. "And after that we go see the bad guy, find out his top lieutenant is your father, and let him kill his boss."  
  
"You know, we're looking for a way to save this world, not the whole universe." Ash countered with a grin on his face.  
  
"Awww." Gary's voice was sad - and very fake-sounding. "Then we take our starfighters, fly up, find the death star, go up the trench, and fire a proton torpedo..." he innocently offered his newest plan.  
  
"And get a big guy with a black mask to blow us all up while we try it. While we're at it we might want to try finding a blue stone of some kind..."  
  
"Rose-shaped?" Gary asked innocently. "Nah, we're much better finding out that one of your dragon actually died and got reborn..."  
  
"Actually, we might do better trying to find the real vilain behind all this...I mean, it could be some sorceress trying to compress time..."  
  
"Or a guy we know in disguise. Someone we wouldn't suspect."  
  
"Why do I have a feeling we're going to be meddling kids?" Tomoyo sighed theatrically. Apparently, she did know something about the modern world, as would be expected from her staying as a soul trapped in Gary's head for years.  
  
"Or a clown with a weird make-up." Gary offered yet another possibility..  
  
"You know, that one's the most likely." Ash grinned. "After all, we already have the world being smashed to bits, and the enemy general switching side and she even was magically enhanced with the powers of a pokemon..."  
  
"Right. Then we'd have to find the magical statues that guy is using to gain power and smash them to end magic once and for all..."  
  
"Maybe that's not really what we need to do..." Ash smiled. "Do you happen to know a baby who's parents loves him a lot?"  
  
"So that we can convince bad guy to try to kill him..." Gary left it hanging.  
  
"But then get his powers reflected back at him." Ash nodded.  
  
"Nope, sorry. Can't help you there." Laughing. Gary sat down on a rock to avoid falling.  
  
"I wish we could do it as simply as writing our name on fifty-two cards with weird pictures on them, then facing some kind of weirdo judge and be done with it." Another comment, though they were starting to run out of anime, books, games and movies to pillage for stupid ideas on how to save the world.  
  
"Would you two perhaps be done now?" Tomoyo inquired. "I mean, I'm sure you are having fun, but we do need to save the world. So thinking about how best to do that might be a...profitable choice for our next thing to do."  
  
"But that's what we've been doing!" Ash protested, smiling.  
  
"Really?" An eyebrow raised, the young woman faced him. "I somehow don't think so." She smiled. "Remember, I know what you two were talking about. I've just been hanging around his head for sixteen years or so. So now, any serious idea?"  
  
"Yeah. Eat." The offhand answer came back.  
  
"And how is THAT going to save the world?" A certain exasperation could be heard in the voice.  
  
"It's not. It's going to fill my stomach so that I can think up a way to save the world." He shrugged, knowing he couldn't think on how to save the world while being hungry.  
  
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Tomoyo muttered something under her breath, though he had no idea what it was. They continued their way down in the crater, finally reaching a cave that actually seemed inhabited.  
  
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"Welcome to our chateau, milord." Gary bowed mockingly, trying without much success to take a fancy tone.  
  
"Why my dear count, it is a pleasure to visit your most noble home." Ash bowed right back, wanting to get inside so that he could collapse on something and laughs until he ran out of breath.  
  
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They entered, and Ash collapsed on one of the rock that seemingly acted as chairs, laughing more than he could ever remember laughing in his entire life. Gary followed suit, his laughter filling what little silence there was left with Ash's laughter.  
  
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Once they were done laughing, they took some fruits that had grown in the crater, and ate them. The apple which Ash first took was one of the most delicious he had ever eaten, the sweet taste filling his mouth with each bite. As soon as he was done, he reached for another, then changed his mind, deciding to try one of the plums instead. The slightly acid sugary taste was just as perfect, the exact balance that made those the most tasty fruits he had eaten in years.  
  
"Now that you have eaten, how do we go about saving the world?" Tomoyo asked again.  
  
"We wait." He replied simply, getting a strange sensation that something just had to happen yet before they could set off to save the world. "We need to find a bit more about the world, first."  
  
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The small ship had sailed away from Goldenrod twelve days before, passing over the water where the reefs of Cianwood had once been, empty save for one sailor, and her pokemon. The sky overhead was clear, no storm menacing, which was a fine thing really, seeing as the ship probably wouldn't survive even the smallest tantrum of the sea.  
  
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"Are you going to tell me where you are taking us now?" Her voice curious, the girl turned toward he the pokemon which had been guiding her since the start of her travel, far to the east, two years before. It had taken her a long time to make her way all across the ravaged world, past new and old seas and mountains, over empty wastelands, until finally reaching Goldenrod and being unable to go further, at least not by walking. The ship she was now on had been easy to obtain, and it was pretty much the only way to cross from Aysaka to Serland.  
  
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"No." the spectral being replied, his voice ringing through her mind. "Why don't you see if you can find out for yourself...you know, visions of the future and all that...meditation..." He added, getting a sigh out of her.  
  
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She focused, shielding her mind from the outside world and blanking it, forcing herself to think of nothing at all, to get ready to catch whatever glimpses of the future she could find. Her eyes slowly closed as she felt the strange tattoo that had been etched on her back over three years before rippling.  
  
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Swirling colors filled her mind, strange vapors and mysterious currents. She tried to push them away, then elected instead to let them be and wait, watching. Slowly, as a curtain drawn by an invisible hand, the vapors moved away, revealing a city seemingly empty, yet not.  
  
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The city slowly vanished, replaced by running faces which she could not put names on, though she knew she was one. Again, the vision shifted slowly, a crater surrounded by water appearing, tall cliffs standing out of the sea as her ship slowly approached it at night.  
  
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The vision ended, and as she opened her eyes to look at the sun, she realized the vision had been much longer than it had seemed, as every other time she had sought and obtained one of these. The sun was already mostly vanished in the west, and nighttime would soon fall. Ahead, a stark wall had appeared, a mountainous island standing in the middle of the sea.  
  
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No, not a mountainous island. Looking at it again, she was almost certain that the place was the crater of her visions.  
  
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"That's the place?" She asked her pokemon, confident that she already knew his answer. His nod was just what she expected, and as the sun slowly disappeared behind the horizon and the moon rose in the sky, as the stars slowly appeared to dot the dark drape of night, she drew the small vessel on the empty beach of the island, near the feet of the crater's walls.  
  
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"I suppose I have to get inside the crater?" She did not need to ask or look for a vision, the answer was already painfully obvious. Without any flying pokemon, she would have to walk her way up to the rim then back inside, not something she was looking toward.  
  
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Yet she got started, knowing how limited her options were, setting foot on those few stones that were large enough to serve as stepping stone, probing with her hands to find holds. The weight of her luggage on her back was unwelcome, as was that of her quarterstaff tied there, but she did her best to ignore these, concentrating on taking the next step upward over the stark cliff.  
  
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The light of the moon slowly fell on the facade she was climbing, giving her a better light in which to find handholds and stepping stones, instead of the nearly complete darkness in which only her mental power had allowed her to see anything. She was far from the top still, but she kept on, slowly inching her way upward.  
  
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She reached a small ledge after nearly two hours and stopped here, her arms and legs sore from the exertion, sprawled against a wall, her luggage besides her. Breathing heavily, she reached for the bottle of water she had carried with her, drinking from it with a smile, feeling the refreshing liquid flowing down her throat. Closing the bottle, she picked some of her leftover food from the long travel, quickly eating some of the dried bread and fruits.  
  
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As she finished resting and eating, she looked at the remnants of the cliff. She had a while still to go, a few hours more of climbing, but she was more than halfway through the climbing. She slowly started again, her hands and feet grabbing for holds as she made her way up against the rock face. From time to time she stopped on a small ledge to swallow some more water with whichever hand was free.  
  
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After a few more hours, she finally reached the top of the crater's wall, stopping there to take the whole area in view. The cliffs on the outside were all stark, but on the inside, admittedly, the walls gently sloped down toward a lake inside. Knowing she would run out of water soon, she elected to make her way down toward it, hoping to fill her bottles. As she left, the sun started to rise, a majestic display of stunning colors in the sky.  
  
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The inside of the crater was covered with trees, emerald leaves glittering as the sun slowly ascended in the sky. The waters of the lake were clear as she reached it at noon and drank from it, then filled her bottle, wondering what it was that she had come for.  
  
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Voices behind her broke the spell of beauty of the lake and she turned to slowly face the approaching group. There were three, two men and a woman. The two men, she knew, having fought at their side often. If it hadn't been for her encounter with May Oak, she would have been surprised to see her brother, but then, where one could come back from the dead, why not more?  
  
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"Ash! Gary!" She called them out, watching with a smile as they turned to face her at once.  
  
"Well, well, well. Certainly not someone I expected to see here." Gary grinned as they both joined her at the lakeside, the woman standing a bit behind until they presented her.  
  
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She explained her long journey from Kanto to the island, drawn forward by her Gengar across the continent, and in turn Ash and Gary both told their tale. She gaped at the two of them as they explained things as if they were nothing, but then, what had happened to them did seem small, or at least not so spectacular in comparison to what the nine had already done.  
  
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"So the question we were working on is, how do we save the world?" Ash finally concluded, getting a sheepish smile from Gary.  
  
"Actually..." An idea forming in her mind, Sabrina started to remember something that had happened back when she had been traveling around Kanto with Ash and his friends, looking for the rest of the nine. "I think I have an idea of what we should do." 


	3. Twilight

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The Greater Evil IV : World of RuinsÂ   
  
Part 3 : Twilight  
  
Chapter 11  
  
There was no warning of the attack, the Avaraen appearing out of nowhere to strike at them. For a brief moment Elayne wondered what the creature had against them, why they kept warring against mankind as they did. A brief moment only. There would be time later to sort who was right and who was wrong, now she would be fighting in self defense.  
  
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She thanked whatever power had made her run in Kyle and AimÃ©e after the breaking, thank to them, she had managed to get arrows with starspire points, arrows she could wield against the most deadly opposition they had to face. Or rather, she was reminded as an arrow whistled past her, they had managed to get such arrows.  
  
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One of them, a grubby little shadow, perhaps an imp of some kind, rushed at her, but a quick slash of her long-bladed dagger brought it short. Two more arrows whistled past on either side of her head, coming entirely too close to her comfort. She could use the same focusing technique as the kai masters, at least to an extent, but her companion was only a novice at it...she was too young, too inexperienced...  
  
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Two more quick slashes of her dagger, another point-blank shot whistling past her to slay an Avaraen, and then the meadow was silent once more, unbroken arrows on the ground the only sign of what had come to pass.  
  
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Slowly, she turned, her mind reeling from the deadly accuracy of the shots. In the middle of the path, behind her, her companion stood. Her companion, and much more. Black hair covered her head, blue eyes shining in the sunlight. Had it not been for the gift, maybe the curse, she had been given by AimÃ©e and Kyle, she would have been far smaller, the height of one who was barely two years old. Instead, they had argued, claiming she would almost certainly die without what they intended to do, they had struck at her heart, using her weakness to force her to accept what they had offered. She had been too weak, a fool, too much of a fool, sacrificing everything for threats that seemed so distant and so unfounded.  
  
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Oh, they had not seemed so distant, so unsure then, but now that the deed was done, that the girl she had carried within her had grown fifteen years in the space of two, her age making her closer to being Elayne's sister than her daughter, now that it was done....  
  
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Now that it was done, she was left with a bitter taste, filled with regret. She had lost Damian, a sacrifice for the world or so they had told her, she had lost their daughter, had not seen her first steps, had not held her for more than a few days, strange magic making her in a woman not much younger than herself in the space of two years.  
  
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"Thinking about that again mom?" The young woman moved closer, letting a comforting hand rest on Elayne's shoulder. They were close, but being close as they were didn't feel...right. Not like a mother and daughter relationship...not the kind of relationship she would have wanted to have with her daughter.  
  
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Even her words, meant for comfort, stung her. She had not been a mother to Sarah, never would be, she knew that. She almost pleaded for her to stop using that one word in reference to her, but could not bring herself to do it, to sever a last link to the truth.  
  
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"I know you're thinking about how you weren't there." The young woman announced, shaking her head. "That doesn't change a thing." She continued, a whisper of sadness in her eyes. She had not enjoyed being motherless for two years, or fifteen. But somehow she could not bring herself to blame anyone for it, for doing what they truly believed was the best for her. "Just be my mother now. That's all I want."  
  
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With a weary sigh, Elayne caressed her daughter's hair, wishing futilely she could forgive herself as easily as Sarah did. Night was settling down on them slowly, a blanket of darkness covering the world. They had little to eat, but yet they did as they could, swallowing what they had, before rolling in the blankets they carried with them, sleeping as they could on the hard soil.  
  
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At least Sarah was old enough to take a traveling life, to allow them both to stay on the move and not penned down, was old enough not to be a steel chain around her neck. Selfish arguments in a way, but yet the only reasons she could find to atenuate the pain of what she had done. It didn't work, not nearly well enough, but it was all she had.  
  
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Her blue eyes closed, her blond hair falling loosely around her head, she could not in any way perceive the black lifeless iris eyeing her from the other side of the road. She had wandered down a dangerous path during the battle, one that the dark figure would not let her explore further. She certainly was still far from a solution, but understanding the problem remained all the same the first step to finding one.  
  
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Slowly flying away, the Angiris mused about what best way there were to deal with the problem.  
  
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The barren lands south and to the west of the Silver Mountains had once been covered by a great forest, so that any who flew over them would witness only a sea of emerald. The loss of the rivers that fed the land had been an harsh blow, and now the trees had died. Fire had taken some, its source unknown, not that it mattered.  
  
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"Why did you insist on coming this way?" Jeffrey's voice was merely curious, barely an hint of frost in it, only perceivable if it was sought. May simply ignored it. She had far better to do than bother with half- forgotten remnants of an hatred of her that had been more than justified. She wished he could forgive her, but could not blame him for not doing so. She had not tortured herself, had done what little she could to save as many as possible from the inquisitors...it had not been enough, not nearly so.  
  
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"Why not come this way?" Misty objected before May could speak.  
  
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Pushing the edge of her cloak back, May mentally nooded. The dry, dusty road were bare and without much of interest, but then, so had been the sea, empty and dark, yet seemingly a monster waiting only for a rising wind to swallow them. She felt much more comfortable on land, feeling solid soil under her feet than at sea in a small wooden ship that would capsize with a good sneeze.  
  
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"Why not go another way?" The question was just as easy to ask, an answer just as efficient as the one Misty had given.  
  
With a brief shrug, Misty looked around. "What difference does it make anyway?"  
  
"That I wouldn't have sore feet, that's the difference it makes." Jeffrey chuckled, obviously not meaning it. He had fought too much on the wall, as far as May could tell, to be bothered by a few days of walking. He had walked a long time, too, with Ash and his companions, from all accounts she had heard, but she preferred not to dwell on that. Thinking of Ash brought stinging thoughts of her inability to save him, something too painful even now.  
  
"I'll find you some warm water." Misty promised merrily. "That way you can have a feet bath by the time we settle down tonight. Now wouldn't that be nice?"  
  
"Yes, especially if you let me dump it on your head right after." The reply was mocking, as they all grinned. All except May.  
  
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The wind picked up around four in the afternoon, or at least so they assumed the time to be thank to the sun. Their watches, which had barely survived the breaking thank to the protective wave of energy cast out by Mewtwo, had long since died to lack of energy, and the few remaining power sources had far too much to do to be wasted on watches.  
  
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The blazing sun slowly lowered, earlier than May would have liked it to. At night, finding their way would be hard, nearing impossible, not with the stars as their only guide, moonrise too far away to be of any help. Yet another day searching, yet another day without finding even the smallest traces of the hundreds, thousands of Avaraen that had sailed from the southernmost part of the Alph peninsula.  
  
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"May, I think we should stop." Misty called out, pointing at the sun, now more than halfway down beyond the horizon. Yes, soon the darkness would be too total to even set their camp, it was time to stop. She wished it could be otherwise, a bitter feeling eating her inside as she vainly hoped for some miracle that would let them continue their hunt.  
  
"Right, time to set up camp." A voice filled with words she didn't want to mean, but had no choice but to say.  
  
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It was quickly done, of course. For an army on the march to set up camp, hours would have been needful. For the four of them, it was done before the sun could go much further down, a warm fire kindled by NaÃ¯a, ever thoughtful of ensuring they had what they needed. Some dried brown bread from their pack, cheese as well, some water from the last stream they had encountered, it was a meager meal, but it was what they could get, and at least enough to allow them to sleep without too much protests from grumbling stomachs.  
  
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Three more days traveling, filled with remorse. Elayne wished she could just forget, but it was one of these thing that were deep carved in her now. She had once been part of the infamous Team Rocket, there had met Damian, falling in love with him. She had discovered she was one of the nine, had fought against the Lord of the night, had carried a child, hers and Damian's. And just as those were part of her life she could never forget, so was the deal she had been forced to strike with Kyle and AimÃ©e.  
  
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Again, the attack came without warning, though it was of a completely different kind. As they made their way on what might have once been a road, they ran in a small encampment, filled with men. They wore white cloaks, carried swords and lances.  
  
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Neither Elayne nor Sarah had been ready for the ambush, and as fast as she drew her knife, she knew she couldn't defend herself nearly well enough. Not outnumbered and outmatched as she was - in close combat against well armed humans, she definitely was not skilled.  
  
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The only possible saving grace she could see was the fact that she could take many wounds without being killed, the gift of nature, just as each other member of the nine had been gifted with a strange shape painted, though in such a way that no washing would ever wash it out, on their back, and with powers matching.  
  
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The first slash that caught her struck her lower left leg, a nasty red cut appearing out of nowhere, then vanishing half a second later. She fought onward, her wounds healing as they were made, but knowing it wouldn't nearly be enough.  
  
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There was no need to yell to her daughter, the young woman understood by watching. Fighting as she could, Elayne held back the attackers in the narrow area between the edge of a cliff and the foot of another. It was barely large enough for a man to stand, and, grinding her teeth, she could hold her own there for a while. Sarah ran behind her, fleeing from the battlefield. Just what Elayne had wanted.  
  
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Her arm seemed to grow heavier with every strike she took, but she struck still - until a rasp on the head by a man who had managed to sneak behind brought her down. She was stunned for but a few moments, but they were enough. The leader of the men, a telltate red lotus flower on his cloak that sent shiver down her spine, looked at her quickly.  
  
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"Pokemon trainer, uh? Good. That means a few more avaraen for our army." He muttered. "Catch the other, she should be another good choice to kill. She's at least related to a pokemon trainer, I'm pretty sure."  
  
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A few of the officer's men walked off, or rather raced, as Elayne watched, bitter tears flowing down her cheeks. She had not wanted life to end like that, not when she barely even knew her daughter, and certainly not handing a weapon to those who obviously were against the world. But it was too late now, or so it seemed.  
  
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"What's that shouting?"  
  
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They had gone five more days through the wasteland then up the mountains, and even May's feet were beginning to be sore. Somehow, the hard days she had spent walking across the world alongside Misty did not seem so harsh as those she now spent on the move.  
  
"I don't know. Guess we should take a look." She replied quickly, her hand reaching for the hilt of her sword. She was not the only one to do so. Jeffrey had lowered his halberd, ready to charge with it, and Misty's hand hovered dangerously close to her katana.  
  
"Right." Misty nodded, silently moving along the path, then in the rocky land that provided far better cover to approach enemies that whatever else they could come up with. They followed her, all of them as silent as the other, a skill NaÃ¯a had taught them all in the first few days of their journey, after they had left the ship behind.  
  
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Even sneaking, it didn't take too long to reach the source of the screaming. A young dark-haired girl was being dragged by a group of rough- looking men toward another such group. To May, familiar with military deployment, it looked like a scouting group reporting to their leader after finding out an enemy scout too near.  
  
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Peering again at the leader, her heart froze. On his white cloak, a red- shaped lotus was definitely visible, an emblem she was familiar with, all too much so. The Crimson Lotus, which she had once led. Some of the men down below looked like common bandits, but others, the captain especially, had the demeanor of professional warriors, those who had fought long.  
  
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"That's not going to be easy." She softly warned the others.  
  
"Feeling regrets at no longer being with them?" The biting question could only come from Jeffrey.  
  
"Feeling regrets about then mot coming over to this side with me." She answered just as quickly. "NaÃ¯a, used those shuriken of yours on the leader, and as many others as you can get. Jeffrey, stay close to her, cover her while she kills them off." She started giving out her order crisply. No matter if it was thousands of men clashing, or four against fifteen, she was in her element now.  
  
"Misty, with me. We need to hit them hard while they are disorganized." She added quickly, her sword now unsheathed as she made her way down.  
  
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Before long, a soft whistling noise barely head signaled that on the other side, NaÃ¯a had launched a first shuriken. The sound was only there for those who sought it, as the enemy leader had no warning, crumpling in a heap withint instants, as did two of the guards near the young woman.  
  
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The white-cloaked troopers reacted quickly, at least most of them did, their stance and efficient deployment clearly showing they were veteran soldiers as their captain had been. Those who raced toward NaÃ¯a's hiding place, however, ran in a nasty surprise as they were met thunderbolt raining down from the sky and an halberd slashing at them with fierce fury.  
  
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Drawing their swords, Misty and her charged from behind, quickly finishing up the job. The young woman looked at them curiously, as they turned to face her.  
  
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Chapter 12  
  
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Bodies littered the ground, that of the ten guards they had just killed. Taking deep breaths, Misty tried not to think too much about the live wasted just then. It was something she had learned to do during the long and deadly war against the Crimson Lotus, years before. Thinking about the killing would only make her fee guilty, dirty, disgusted at herself, no matter the cause.  
  
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"Who are you?" the young woman they had just rescued had dropped back in her fighting stance. "What do you want?"  
  
"Whoa, calm down..." NaÃ¯a smiled. "My name's NaÃ¯a Ashalan. We're only trying to help you." She reached out with and hand to the young woman as Misty observed her. She was young, younger than them certainly, perhaps fifteen or sixteen. Jet black hair framed her face, sending sharp stabs of remembrance at Misty, too similar to Damian's. Her blue eyes were wary, guarded, not betraying any true feeling, reminiscent of Elayne's. Had she not been much too old for it, Misty would have been tempted to say the young woman was their daughter. Of course, that was impossible, given that she was at most five or six years younger than Misty herself or Elayne.  
  
"I'm Jeffrey Surge." The young man presented himself.  
  
"And I'm May Oak." May shrugged slightly. Her eyes were looking curiously at the men on the ground, as if she was looking for one to interrogate, one that would have survived the blows. "Why did these men attack you?" there was something odd about May, Misty realized. Something...not guilt...she looked haunted.  
  
"They appeared around here a few months ago. They try to capture people, who are never seen again." The girl breathed sharply, her mask slowly fading as what seemed to be a tear began to form in her right eye.  
  
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Noticing her distress, NaÃ¯a was quick to move, letting a comforting hand rest on her shoulder. "What's wrong?" She asked softly.  
  
"They got my mother during a fight yesterday. They already carried her off." She shook her head, bitter tears now flowing, sadness mixing with a still-struck disbelief. "She just was so good with that bow...I don't know how she could even lose a fight..." Shaking like a leaf in autumn, the young woman let her head rest on NaÃ¯a's shoulder.  
  
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"Doesn't she remind you of someone?" The soft whisper came from Jeffrey.  
  
"Of course she does. Two someone. Did you really need to ask?" Misty's reply was just as hushed. "But I just don't see what link there could be...I mean, she's too old..."  
  
"Right. But on the other hand, a certain friend of us is adept at toying with time. And if I remember well, that friend's mistress just happened to be the elemental of nature, which was the one linked to Elayne."  
  
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Turning the idea over in her head, Misty considered the point. It could be possible, she reluctantly had to admit, at the same time berating herself for missing it. The link seemed tenuous, hardly visible, a thread that could be used for fishing...but fishing rope, while thin and nearly invisible, was among the most solid there was.  
  
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"It could be." She bit her lips, keeping her voice down, stealing a few glances at NaÃ¯a and the young woman.  
  
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"What's your name?" May broke the silence, her voice awkward, her eyes still haunted.  
  
"My..." The girl gulped. "My name?" She breathed, brushing off a tear. "My name's Sarah." She seemed to hesitate, unwilling to give the rest of the name somehow. "Sarah...Waterflower." She finished, getting a variety of reactions. May glanced at Misty in surprise, while NaÃ¯a patted Sarah on the back, an encouraging smile on her lips. Jeffrey nodded, while Misty herself took a sharp breath. Theorizing on how it could be was one thing, seeing their theories confirmed was another entirely. "At least...that's what my mother told me my father's name was." She amended slightly."  
  
"And what's your mother name?" The question was, of course, purely for confirmation, they had already surmised the answer, except NaÃ¯a.  
  
"Elayne Loreana." There was no shock, no great reaction. It only confirmed what they already knew from her earlier answer.  
  
"How, though? I knew Elayne...she's much too young to be your mother...no offense meant..." May asked, then added precipitedly, realizing how closely she had come to alienating the young woman.  
  
"Do you know her friend AimÃ©e Ryder? She's the one to blame." There was no bitterness in the girl's voice, as if there was no true blame to be given. "At least partly. Outside that, there were others involved, but I'm not too sure about that stuff, so..." She said no more about the topic. Misty only nodded, her suspicions confirmed. So did Jeffrey, for that matter. May, stealing a glance at them, caught the message, nodding in turn as she accepted their judgment.  
  
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"Well, I guess I should present myself." Smiling faintly, Misty walked up to the young woman. "I'm Misty Waterflower. Your father's twin sister, I believe."  
  
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As the girl turned to watch her, curiosity painted all over her face, Misty reached out with her hand, feeling a bit foolish, dumbstruck, and above all, understanding at last why Tanya had reacted so strangely to finding out she was Misty's aunt.  
  
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"Is Tanya coming back any time soon?" As they walked in the deep forest of Viridian, the question left Giovanni's lips. Anything to not think about the damp weather that piled lead on their shoulders, making each step harder than the last.  
  
"I've tried to get in touch with her. She says she'll do her best, but that there are plenty of things she still wants to check before leaving." Danea seemed to have an easier time with the weather than most of them, seemingly blowing the air around her with her mind, keeping the heat from being too restrictive. Uselessly, Giovanni wished he could do the same, something that of course was not the case.  
  
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Behind, the other three members of their group walked in single file. It was not much, the seven of them, but together, they might be able to find a way to counter the growing power of the Avaraen, or the mysterious new threat that had appeared in the south, beyond the barrier of the mountains.  
  
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"What are we looking for exactly?" The voice was curious, as befit one of the greatest surviving scientist of the world. Most of them, like Samuel Oak and Philena Ivy were dead, but Bill Watson was still alive, with all the knowledge inside his mind. Two of the others were pokemon breeders, not to mention they were more or less the de factor leaders of Pewter, while the last two were simple rocket agents. Or had been, has defining them as simple rocket agent would lead to forgetting all their actions in the past five years or so.  
  
"An old research installation of mine. Where we were testing a prototype EMP shielding system by the time the breaking started."  
  
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The sharp hiss of amazement was Bill, as he would be the only one to truly grasp what the shielding might mean, if it was successful. Had been successful he corrected himself, the time for it to face its greatest test was long since past. Had it been successful, they would have access to some high-end, military grade computers and weapons from before the breaking, absolutely intact - an entire research facility filled with equipment mostly everyone thought lost to mankind. There had been a few other EMP shield being worked on by various groups, and probably other such locations subsisted, but the matter was, too often, that their creators had been drawn in other conflicts before they could make use of their bases. It had taken three years for him to be able to come back, three years too many.  
  
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There it was, the dull gray of concrete visible against the brown of tree trunks and the emerald of their leaves. A quick tingling feeling as he passed what had to amount to the defensive shielding, and he headed toward the door. Praying, he unlocked the door, walking in the dark building. A switch nearby would set back up the power generator, which had been wisely closed down, he pulled it. Soon the humming noise was heard throughout the location, a first victory. Praying even harder, he reached for a second switch. If the shield had not worked completely, if it had failed to protect all the base...He pulled the switch, his eyes closed.  
  
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A flash of light caused him to open them again, blinking, as great glow panels lit up all over the roof, as computers everywhere powered up, as bristling research material in perfect condition was revealed. It had worked, as he had hoped. Of course, the laboratory alone held little weapon, certainly not enough to wage war with...  
  
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But with it in their hands, developing the new weapon they would need has just turned a lot more easier.  
  
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"Bill, I believe before the breaking you had an interesting project about induced evolution?" He started, wondering how long getting to the depths of that one path would take. It would take the time it had to, but hopefully it would be what they needed, too.  
  
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"So these guys took your mother away." They had talked for a while, and now May, her voice sharp, brought back the topic of what had happened to Elayne.  
  
"Yes." Sarah nodded once, kept silent, nodded again.  
  
"I don't get it. She used no pokemon, right?"  
  
"Didn't even carry a pokeball with her. She had her pokemon, but didn't use them." The answer was crisp and clear, no traces of the emotions that had been there before remaining. She had to be hiding them, that much was sure.  
  
"Why would they attack civilians for no reason?" May, on the other hand, was walking around as a caged animal, eyes haunted, disbelief painted all over her face. "That's not the way we used to do things...what are they up to?" her mutter was hardly audible, though Misty caught it.  
  
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"I guess we should go and see what they're up to ourselves." She offered. "Besides which, we should really try to get Elayne back, shouldn't we?" A much more valid reason to go as far as she was concerned, but if May was more interested in knowing the truth than in rescuing a friend...  
  
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"Two good reasons. The later especially so." The young woman nodded quickly. "Anyone has an objection to that?"  
  
"Shouldn't we find those avaraen first?" NaÃ¯a brought up.  
  
"I think we're better off rescuing Elayne. She might have information for us." May mused softly. "Anyway, better to have a clear goal than to wander aimlessly around trying to find a trace of them."  
  
"Good point." With a quick nod, Jeffrey turned toward Sarah. "Can you take us to where they ambushed the two of you? From there we should be able to track them down..."  
  
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With another nod, the young woman rose to her feet, leading them in the twisted rocks. They traded no words as they walked, none either as they found the obvious tracks leading away from the ambush spot toward the south.  
  
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They simply followed it, ready to draw their weapon, NaÃ¯a on point, Misty silently moving from half-black tree to half-black tree on the side of the path, a surprise for any attacking Avaraen, while the others just spread out to make it harder for an attacker to surround them.  
  
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As the sun faded behind the mountains, they had of course not caught up with anyone, and Misty couldn't help but wonder if they'd be there in time to save Elayne. She fervently hoped it was so, it had to be so.  
  
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"I have to admit, your idea makes sense." Ash gave in, listening to Sabrina's idea. He too remembered the mysterious "city" he had seen on that map that none other except Sabrina had been able to catch a glimpse of. How much random chance could it be that the city, in mountains he had always felt drawn too, had only been seen by him and Sabrina, the two that were gathered now? Too many coincidence not to investigate the whole matter.  
  
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Sabrina was about to reply when an espeon jumped to sit in her lap, smiling. Sabrina stared in surprise at the creature, scratching it between the ears, caressing it idly as she returned to the discussion.  
  
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"It certainly does." She seemed to consider it again slowly. Ash did the same, making sure not to leave one stone unturned, any chance that they might be going on the wrong path ignored. "I don't see anything better for us to do than go that way, anyhow."  
  
"Good point." He admitted again. There might be reasons not to go there, but there was nowhere else to go. They would do as well wasting their time trying to go there as they would do wasting their time staying in the crater, as there at least was a chance that the new journey would have a point. "Gary, Tomoyo?"  
  
"You can count on us, of course." Gary flashed him a smile. He would not miss out the action, that much Ash had been sure of. Hopefully, he would fare better under enemy fire than he had done before.  
  
"Thanks..." Sabrina paused, though Ash had been sure she was about to say something else. She looked curiously at the Espeon, her eyes puzzled.  
  
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"Something wrong?" Gary questioned, just as surprised as Ash himself.  
  
"Not really wrong. Just...odd. Like someone had used a partial disable of some kind on that pokemon..." She seemed to muse. "Let's just see what I can do about that."  
  
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As she concentrated on the pokemon, Ash concentrated on what she had just said. She had seemed to hesitate, though only barely, before calling the Espeon a pokemon. It made no sense, so why? He reached out for Tairen's memories, hoping to find a clue...  
  
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Then stopped in the middle of doing so. He had just found a clue, but not in Tairen's memory - or rather, only in the fact that they existed. It could be a soul gifted human, having obtained the ability to transform from such a gift...  
  
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And then Ash froze as a thousand little hints fell in place, perfectly fitting, explaining all too well why the so-called pokemon had fled when its so-called mistress had been killed, instead of going to them. Explaining too well, too, why the Espeon insisted so much on hanging around Gary now, and explaining why Sabrina thought it wasn't a pokemon at all. It was no certitude, but it made sense.  
  
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Sabrina's eyes blazed as blue light enveloped her and the pokemon, a tremendous wave of energy even he could feel washing around them. The blue glow subsided, to be replaced by a white glow surrounding the espeon.  
  
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"Since when does espeon evolves?" Tomoyo questioned, her eyes wide.  
  
"She's not evolving. She's transforming." Gary, apparently, had drawn the same conclusion, and his quivering voice certainly confirmed that.  
  
"Yeah. I would guess that she transformed at first as a reflex to the soul gift, then was unable to shift back somehow, and fled." Sabrina nodded. So she had understood the implication of her finding as she had made it. All the implication, she made that obvious with a glance at Tomoyo and Gary in turn.  
  
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The white shining form seemed to elongate, became more humanoid. And as the glow slowly faded away, instead of an espeon, a young woman stood there, The long greenish hair in ponytails on either side of her head were hauntingly familiar, her face, though older, that of someone they all knew. Duplica.  
  
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Chapter 13  
  
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"I've been thinking about one thing for a while..." Duplica told them all seriously the next morning. "It's about my name."  
  
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They had not talked much the day before, too awed to do anything but sit together. Duplica had been thoughtful the whole time.  
  
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"Oh?" With a raised eyebrow, Gary turned toward her. The others reacted in similar ways.  
  
"Yeah, well...you probably noticed a long while ago Duplica isn't much of a name..." She smiled sheepishly. "Which it isn't, not really. It was a nickname, or more accurately, a scene name, which I took when I started putting together my show." She admitted. "Anyway. I thought that us guys had worked together enough..." Her gaze carefully and dutifully avoided Tomoyo, "That I might as well tell you my real name. You know, a mark of friendship and of trust, and all that."  
  
"I get it." Ash slowly nodded. "I was going to tell you earlier Gary, but we didn't really have time that morning, and, well...I couldn't really do so afterward."  
  
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With a nod, Gary sighed in relief as the hurt he had not realized was there slowly vanished, like darkness before the radiant sun. Of course, it made sense...she had planned to tell him, but had been brutally interrupted. "I understand."  
  
"So, what's your name anyway?" Ash's question was straight to the point, a bit insensitive, though certainly not as far as Gary could tell meant to be so.  
  
"Miyako." She smiled. "I looks a lot like my mother, but my father was from Hosho. I got my name from him, and for everything else I'm my mother's daughter."  
  
"That's a pretty name. You should have told us before." Ash smiled.  
  
"Yeah, well..." She seemed to hesitate. "Truth is, stopped using it after I started my show, so...I got used to thinking of myself as Duplica long before you met me. I only thought about my real name when Gary and I got together..." She trailed off, Tomoyo glaring at her. "And after that, I started thinking Duplica just didn't sound right for a name anymore...it was a kid's name. I think we all aged in more way than one since then." She concluded. "If you'd rather call me Duplica, I understand, but I'd appreciate it if you helped me let that name behind."  
  
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She did not need to add anything. To Gary at least, it was perfectly clear that she simply didn't like having her scene name used now that her key partner, her prized ditto, was dead.  
  
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"Do we walk all the way, or do we take our pokemon and fly?" Gary's question came out as he gathered what few belongings he had in the cave inside the crater. Ash turned, a sympathetic smile on his face, knowing his friend was trying very hard not to think about the love triangle in which he had suddenly found himself.  
  
"I vote for walking. A feeling I have flying just wouldn't do the trick." Sabrina replied.  
  
"Personally, I would rather fly. I could turn in some flying bird and then Gary could fly me." Miyako - it was hard not to think of her as Duplica - suggested, the twinkling in her eyes saying louder than words that she was aware the sentence could be taken in a very wrong way.  
  
"Good thing you said fly and not one of the other term you could have used there." Gary laughed, then became sober again. To Ash's mind, there was no doubt he was once more trying to find a way to avoid destroying his heart and that of either Dupli - he interupted himself, forcing his mind to accept the name Miyako instead of Duplica - or Tomoyo.  
  
"Back to the real matter at hand" Ash focused his mind back on his friend's question. "I think we'd better go on feet. Just a feeling, like Sabrina."  
  
"Well...I'd just as soon not fly." Tomoyo admitted. "I'm - or at least I used to be - sort of airsick."  
  
"Guess that makes it a majority vote. We're walking, it looks like." With a weary sigh, Gary finished packing, just as Tomoyo was doing the same.  
  
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Leaving the island on Sabrina's small boat was not much of a challenge, it was large enough to carry the five of them from one side to the other. Had it been too tight, one or two of them could have flown over, but they didn't really need to do so.  
  
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Twilight was settling down around the land as they arrived on the shore of what he assumed has to be the mainland. There were no lights, no signs of visible habitation nearby, only a lush forest waiting, with the stark peaks of the Wall mountains to the east. To get to the city and back in Johto, they would have to cross those giants, most certainly not a pleasing prospect. The Wall had kept at bay the Serlanders invader from Johto and Kanto all but two time in history - once, nearly two thousand year before, when they had first invaded, and again, later, when the world had been embraced by an all-encompassing war.  
  
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Without much else to do, they stepped in the forest, tracking their way northward - at least, with little way to see the sun, they thought it was north - in the vast sea of trees. Maples were dominant, though some birch trees were found also, and here and there the tormented shape of a pine, more frequent as they moved further from the sea, could be seen. There was wildlife in the forest, although not much of it - a few pokemon, mostly pidgey behind the low branches and sentret jumping around, and some small bugs, luckily not mosquitoes.  
  
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At first there was some luck, as they found a stream that seemed to go northward, and followed it through the forest, confirming their position with the sun whenever they reached a clearing. Before long, however, it took a wide swing to the east, leaving them without a clear guide. Still, they kept on northward, or as northward as they could without any way to guide themselves.  
  
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They didn't speak much, at least not as a whole group. Ash and Sabrina would often spend time together, talking about what they had seen in the cave and how best to do something about it, while Tomoyo and Miyako would either be talking or glaring at each other, their relationship a strange mix of friendship and hatred. Gary tried to avoid them all, only talking with Ash from time to time, but mostly isolating himself as he tried desperately to decide what - who - he really wanted.  
  
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"Things are quiet. I thought Avaraen were crawling everywhere when I got kicked back downstairs." He commented softly on their fifth day of traveling, as they installed themselves for the night in what should amount to a safe place for the night, where the branches of a number of pines and low bushes formed a sort of natural cave between them, keeping most of the soft rain off them.  
  
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A small campfire was quickly set up by Gary with some of the dry wood he had picked up all day. Ash made as if to move to prepare something to eat, but he was stopped by Gary. "Don't you dare Ash." He smiled, though briefly. "I'm not going to let you poison us all."  
  
"Hey!" With a rapid protest, Ash ran after his friend all over the small clearing while Miyako and Tomoyo watched, bemused.  
  
"Children." Sabrina laughed softly, quietly, a sound he had almost never heard before. He whirled in surprise, there she was, chuckling to herself, a twinkle of happiness in her eyes he had never seen there.  
  
"Hey!" He said again, then hesitated, deciding finally that he would certainly have more occasions to pick a mock fight with Gary, while such an occasion with Sabrina was something rare. Turning, he went after her. After throwing him a startled look, she elected to run, though her smile was still very much there.  
  
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Still, he did catch up with her and, with a grin, started tickling her. She shuddered, her smile disappearing for the a long moment as he did so. Seeing her face, he immediately stopped as she shuddered again.  
  
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"Sorry..." She shivered again, pain in her face. "It's just...remember that time a few years ago just before we all gathered at Danea's place? We told you about it..."  
  
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He nodded, the memories flooding back. At that time, a man had tried to rape her, being stopped in time, but still managing to go quite too far already. Yes, he could certainly understand why the tickling would have brought back memories.  
  
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"It's me who's sorry." He sighed. "I should have thought about it - I knew what happened back then."  
  
"You couldn't remember." There was a slight tremor in her voice, perhaps sadness. Once she had been a master of keeping her emotions hidden, of freezing them past what anyone could see. No more. She might not be as open as the average human, but she was far more open with feelings than she had been. "Don't worry about it." she whispered.  
  
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They were silent for a while, just sitting close to each other, though not too close. Ash's mind was on Misty, and on the day they had all spent traveling together, while Sabrina seemed to be trying very hard not to think - without much success, again surprisingly.  
  
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"Sometime, I wish you guys had never saved me...things were so much simpler when I didn't have to worry about feelings..." She shook her head. "About all those stupid emotions."  
  
"True. Life would probably be much simpler without emotions. Much blander, too." He couldn't know, but as far as he was concerned, it was the truth. Emotions made life worth it. His love for Misty, his friendship with Gary...without them, he wouldn't have pulled through so many tight situation.  
  
"Yeah. And once you have love and serious, strong friendship, I guess it's true...but without them, it's hard to realize that." Her tone was hushed, pained. He looked at her again, her words registering on his mind - and searing it. It was true, she had never known either, not really. They had been comrades, traveling companions, all of them, but friends? Not really. Not the true, strong kind of friendship he had shared with Richie, or Damian, and far from the even stronger kind he shared with Gary.  
  
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He wouldn't be able to help much when it came to her finding love, but at least, he could help her find friendship - he would give it his best try. "I see what you mean." He whispered.  
  
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A succession of faces, whirling in his dreams as he tried to sleep. Miyako, but she called herself Duplica again, then turned back to Miyako. Tomoyo. One after the other, each of them smiling, their shining eyes like daggers piercing at his heart. He tried, wanted to decide which one he really loved, but couldn't.  
  
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Conflicting emotions raged through his entire self, tearing him apart. He could not bring himself to break the heart of either of them - but if he didn't do so, he would break the heart of both, and his own. Though of course, his own heart would be broken just as well if he did make a choice, by having broken the heart of the other.  
  
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Wearily, knowing he would not get more sleep that night, he woke up. Reaching for his bottle of water, he drank a little from it, though not much. Shaking his head, he looked in turn at either of them, trying without success to make up his mind once more. Both of them were wonderful, awesome women. Both of them were intelligent, and both of them had managed to catch his heart in a vice.  
  
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It would have been so much simpler if Duplica had not apparently died six years - had it been that long already? - before. Or if, over those six years, he had really forgotten her, not simply buried his feelings for her deep. Or if Tomoyo had stayed a simple soul inside of him. Or if Duplica had actually died, not simply been trapped in a body not her own to return now as Miyako. Or...  
  
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With another sigh, he stopped. There was no point thinking about might-have- been. Things were as they were, and there would be no changing it. He simply wished he could make a choice, any choice, and end the torturing wait for them all.  
  
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He did not get more sleep that night, he had not expected to. Rising the next morning, he felt more tired than he had been in years, and had a strange urging to not leave his blankets. Yet he did rise, knowing they had to make their way further.  
  
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That day, and the next two, went by normally, the alternating sun and moon barely visible over the trees. There was no telling how far north they had come, especially since they were on the Serland side of the mountains, one none of them knew, and therefore had no true landmarks to locate even when Ash managed to find a clearing in the trees large enough to go fly around for a better idea of how things were.  
  
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"All I can say is that even spiraling up as far as Celes will go, I didn't catch the smallest glimpse of the sea. Which means we have gone a long way north." He reported. "That should be good news of a kind."  
  
"I guess so..." Shaking himself, Gary tried to take his mind off his own problems. There would be time enough to deal with matters of love once they had saved the world. Now, if only his heart could listen to reason...  
  
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Of course, Duplica picked just that moment to come in the little clearing, back from trying to find some water for them all. Sabrina was not far behind, seeming to have a great deal of fun with the stack of wood floating - or rather, acrobatically flying - behind her, surrounded by a blue glow. They each took their turn at setting things up when they stopped for the night, now it had been Gary's turn to set up the campsite, along with Tomoyo, while Ash scouted out ahead, and the other two gathered wood and water.  
  
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Her return brought down his pitiful attempt at not thinking about the dilemma mercilessly. Again it tore apart his heart. Miyako, Tomoyo. Tomoyo, Miyako. It seemed as if he would never be able to chose, but such a choice was one he could entrust to no one else.  
  
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Chapter 14  
  
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"Induced evolution, in a nutshell, is how you can, for example with the elemental stones, force a pokemon to evolve." Bill explained them. "Now, it was long thought that for evolution to take place, you needed simply to reach a certain criteria, at which point the pokemon would become a more advanced version of itself."  
  
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"Yeah." Brock nodded shortly, wondering what the scientist was leading them toward. The old Rocket lab around them was well-lit, a welcome difference from the ruined world around them.  
  
"However, certain pokemon can evolve different ways when different criterias are met. Slowking, the Eevee line and Politoed are all examples." He explained further, juggling with a pair of evolution stones.  
  
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"That has led us to speculate that the evolution trigger is one thing that vary from pokemon to pokemon, but that other elements also influence on how the evolution take place. For example the Eevees evolves at contact from an elemental stone, or during battle if they are extremely happy. What determine how they evolves is another factor completely. At least we believe so. Without any outside influence beyond their evolution criteria, they evolves normally, or sometime not at all."  
  
"So you think it would be possible to create new pokemon that simply?" Giovanni sounded awed ."After all the time we spent on gene-splicing, such an easy solution..."  
  
"I definitely think so. In fact, I was about to begin experimenting with that with what I had when you bothered me." The researcher smiled. "Though I guess having the team you gathered to work with me is going to help."  
  
"Thanks." The older man gave a brief smile.  
  
"All right. I guess we should do some experimenting about my idea now..." The scientist smiled. "We'll need a pokemon for that that's almost ready to evolve by battling."  
  
"My Rhyhorn would work, I guess..." Brock replied doubtfully, not too sure he wanted to risk one of his prized pokemon in an experiment.  
  
"A Rhyhorn would work fine." Bill nodded. "Let's set everything up, then."  
  
"Let's do." Giovanni nodded. "Jessie, James, help Bill with whatever he needs you to do." The man who had once led Team Rocket ordered. "Brock, Suzie, take care of the Rhyhorn. We don't want it smashing this lab." The stern voice was unnecessary. They all realized how much the place was worth already.  
  
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Bill quickly gathered his material, a strangely metallic sheet and a fire stone, looking them over carefully to make sure there was nothing wrong with them. Just the same, even though he knew the Rhyhorn has been bred as carefully as possible by Suzie and him, Brock looked him over to make sure he was in the best possible health.  
  
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"All fine here." Bill finally stated.  
  
"All fine here too." Brock reluctantly said, patting the large stone beast.  
  
"Let's begin then." Giovanni watched them sternly as they made their way through the various check-ups.  
  
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Under Bill's expert direction, they quickly wrapped the steel sheet over the pokemon's back, trapping the fire stone under it. It was easily done, and soon enough they were ready for the experiment.  
  
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"Subject number one : " Bill reported, taking notes down. "An healthy rhyhorn specimen. Age is three years old. Estimation is that the pokemon is one battle away from evolution readiness." He clinically noted everything down. "Subject was bred by Suzie and Brock Slate from the best two Rhydon specimen they had."  
  
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The pokemon seemed oblivious to what was happening and not too bothered by the enormous weight on its back. Of course, it's own weight was much greater, but still...  
  
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"We will now have the subject meet it's evolution criteria while equipped with material suspected of causing an alteration in the elemental influx around the subject." Bill continued to note clinically. "In this specific case, the subject is currently in direct contact with a metal coat and a fire stone." He kept going on, relentlessly adding to the sheet.  
  
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Quickly, he pulled the string of a cage, releasing a raticate in the room. The small rodent looked around, saw the rhyhorn, and viciously rushed ot the offensive.  
  
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Of course, it was not a fair battle, barely even a battle. The Rhyhorn was quick to swat aside the offender with one huge strike of his enormous paw, sending the beast flying. There were the briefest flickers of light around it, but nothing else. It had come close to evolution but not close enough.  
  
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"Very well. We'll have to send in another, stronger pokemon." Bill simply nodded, as if he had expected the very result they now had before them.  
  
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The second pokemon indeed was stronger. The second rhyhorn might not have been at Brock's one's level, but it was certainly strong. The two pokemon eyed each others warily, before the less experienced one charged brutally, swinging its horn madly.  
  
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Brock's one met the charge, horn crossing with horn like the swords of two fighters in a duel, a clash of stone on stone. The two eyed each other as they struggled, their legs digging in the ground as they put all their strength in trying to bring down the opponent.  
  
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They pulled and pushed, fighting insanely. Brock's pokemon pounded the ground a few time with his paws, causing small earthquakes to rock the whole laboratory without doing much damage, but they didn't affect the opponent much either.  
  
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Without warning, the steel coat-outfitted Rhyhorn howled, particles of light gathering in its mouth out of nowhere, before being catapulted forward at screeching speed like a laser. The piercing brightness normally wouldn't have wounded much a rhyhorn, but with its greater experience, the great beast was able to direct the beam exactly at the weak point of its opponent armor, causing it to fall on the ground and faint.  
  
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The light from the beam subsided, returning in darkness.  
  
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"Damn. Looks like that wasn't enough." Bill reported. A sudden glow filled the room, streaming from the Rhyhorn.  
  
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The great metropolis of Viridian had suffered much already, both from the terrible battle fought there at the end of the Lotus war, when the tide had been turned back, and later during the breaking, when forces unparalleled had rent the earth apart.  
  
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"General, we are ready." One of the man reported, bearing the insigna of a colonel on his shoulder.  
  
"Good." Reluctantly, the young man gazed at the city again. He had no choice, but he wished he had one, wished he had the courage - or was it the cowardice? - to give up on what he had been forced to start...to end it all...  
  
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Shaking his head, he tried to get his mind back to the matter at hand. He could not abandon what he had started. Not now. His family...they would die if he didn't do it, would fall mercilessly. He would do it, because there was no choice.  
  
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"All right. Send your troops on a flanking attack on the southern side of the city." He ordered, biting his lips to keep himself from giving the counter-order that would send them to the north instead, giving a much easier escape route to any trapped enemy soldier - and to the innocent civilians who had already been hurt too much.  
  
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"Yes sir!" The man saluted and left, racing back to his division. They would attack, defeat the enemy army as it could be defeated...and he would just have another thing to hate himself for. But with his the menace of killing his family, Starkhad held him and would not let him go.  
  
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He sent no troops to the north, he would at least give them the chance to run to the forest and away from his men, from the pack of rabid murderers he was forced to lead.  
  
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The flanking maneuver was done as he had ordered, quickly completed, two or three hours after the order was given, blocking off the enemy's way south. From that point forward it was easy to attack. His troops rushed in the little defended city, swarming over it, taking down what was left of the defender with astounding ease.  
  
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Some of the refugees fled north, but most of them headed south, directly in the trap he had had no choice but to set. He winced, hoping against hope something would happen to turn the tide of the slaughter and capture of thousands, hundreds of thousands, that would take place.  
  
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And something did. As the refugees reached the southern line with Todd's main force trailing behind them, driving them forward, a swarm of arrow struck the men holding the south.  
  
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"What?" The scream went up from many of the soldiers who held the area locked, as their comrades fell to the ground wounded.  
  
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Before they had any time to react, a swarm of infantry trooper, well armed and easily a match in number and training for those troops he lead, came out of the hills and struck.  
  
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"Who are these?" He screamed, though at least a part of him was secretly relieved of the unexpected arrival of a strong opposition that would give him a valid reason to turn back. His aide de camp suddenly growled as the enemy general appeared on the field, flanked by a man carrying a blue flag with a white lotus shining on it.  
  
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"Nelson!" The low growl was full of hatred. "The traitor...he turned against us..."  
  
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Watching as the Silver Lotus troops swarmed over their opponents, Eric Nelson felt a momentary surge of pride. He at last had been able to strike at Starkhad's operations, has he had sworn himself he'd do immediately after the murder of the grand master.  
  
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"For May!" He shouted, throwing himself in the thick of battle, his sword held high, then falling as it cleaved in the opponent ranks. From both sides, he could hear shouts of "traitors" as old comrades at arm in the Crimson Lotus met on the battlefield, split in those who now followed his Silver Lotus, and those who remained in what Starkhad had done of the Crimson Lotus.  
  
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Slowly, they opened a breach through the encircling forces through which the refugees could make their way, a small passage between the spearhead of the now split enemy forces that they could take to escape to safety, toward the island of Pallet.  
  
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The refugees rushed through the now opened passage, strength born of despair giving them wings to race to the sea.  
  
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His troops slowly pulled back, withdrawing inches by inches, giving the refugees all the time they could afford to buy. Or at least, that had been the plan. However, they had not expected the enemy army to start withdrawing, and that of course completely changed the situation. With both forces pulling back, it seemed the battle was over.  
  
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It had been done quickly, and the victory had not been too costly in human lives, though they had lost some of their troops in the fighting. All in all, it was worth it, they had saved much more lives than they had lost in the fighting.  
  
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If only May had been there to lead them. They would not have lost half as many life if she had, they would have been able to do much more to the enemy...If only she's been there. If only she had been there, she's have been with him...he would not have felt so alone, so empty.  
  
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She might not be here, but he wouldn't forget her, and wouldn't forget what he had learned thanks to her. He would not let the only one he could think of as her murderer live in peace, too - he would remain a thorn in Starkhad's foot as long as he could. The battle he had won was just a beginning.  
  
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Chapter 15  
  
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The form of the pokemon slowly changed as the glowing light enveloped it, stronger than Brock remembered the light of any evolution he had witnessed. Of course, if Bill's theory was right, this was not simply an evolution, but the birth of a whole new specie of pokemon, an event unparalleled in magnitude.  
  
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So far, Bill theory was impossible to confirm. The shape within the shadow seemed to stay much the same, only altering a little in proportion and size...Nothing that didn't happen with nearly every evolution, so nothing that would prove the theory one way or the other.  
  
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And then it started to change, to truly change. It grew, far larger than any other pokemon Brock remembered seeing except a handful - the dragonite at Bill's lighthouse, the Tentacruel at Porta Vista and the Gengar and the Alakazam at Pokepolis.  
  
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Its small horn grew much larger, turning almost in a blazing sword of fire as plates of steel wrapped around its body, protecting the neck like the bony plates of ancient creatures long vanished. The head's general shape was that of the Rhydon's, but larger. Steel plates overlapped from its four legs, armoring it beyond belief, and creating a mostly protected space on its back were people could seek refuge. It's tail became longer, larger, the end a massive ball of steel that could be swished around and used to crush opponents. Again, Brock's thought returned to the size, nearly that of a bus, as he realized how much potential the creature had in the war that was sure to begin soon from all he had heard.  
  
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The glow slowly subsided, leaving them able to witness the sight of the astounding creature, fire and steel shaped in a living weapon of destruction.  
  
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"Whoa." Bill breathed sharply. "That's...astounding. Just astounding." He looked in awe at the beast, his eyes wide. He certainly had not expected such awe-inspiring results.  
  
"Yeah..." Suzie was every inches as awed. So were all of the others who had witnessed the evolution.  
  
"I wonder if it kept its ground type." Giovanni mused. "Jessie, James?" He turned toward his two henchmen. "Could you try to have this beast shocked to verify?".  
  
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"Of course." James nodded briefly. "Pikachu?" He turned toward the yellow pokemon that had accompanied them in the shack a few days before. Brock had not known it back then, only realizing later it was Ash's pokemon, and deciding it was better not to ask why it was perfectly content to be with team Rocket.  
  
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The electric pokemon gathered energy, sparkles flowing from its charged cheeks, filling the air with static energy, then discharged it in a fiery bolt aimed at the steel war machine. The pokemon looked back curiously, obviously unaffected by the blast.  
  
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"Whoa." Giovanni muttered under his breath. "Now, that's what I call impressive. Three types, and huge. Great job Bill." He congratulated the scientist.  
  
"Thank you." The man smiled. "I believe you'll want me to go forward with more such research?" He asked.  
  
"Of course. I'll try to find more people to help you here, too. There's war brewing on the horizon, and everything like that you manage is going to help." He pointed at the tank-like pokemon. "Try to create more of these. I'll get you the steel, the rhyorn and the fire stones." He ordered. "Those will be awesome weapons." He confirmed Brock's opinion.  
  
"Very well." The scientist was thoughtful for a second. "What should we name this project?" He asked.  
  
"I don't know..." Giovanni was slow to answer.  
  
"We're trying to create new species." Suzie pointed out. "So, Neo-Genesis would make sense in a way." She suggested.  
  
"I guess that works." Brock brought his wife closer as he agreed with her. "What I'm more interested in is how we'll name that monster there..." He pointed at the great beast, still looking at them. It had been trained to not attack unless ordered to or already threatened, so it wouldn't cause trouble, but having a name for it would be nice.  
  
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Unlike its lowland sister Celadon, Saffron had escaped relatively unscathed from the breaking. The only major changes was that the great plain that had used to border the plateau to the west and south was gone, replaced by a great sea. Islands, especially near the half-broken moon mountains to the west, were all that remained of the land that had once been there.  
  
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Peering out of the window, Lance wondered idly why things wouldn't go better for once instead of turning worst with every passing day. Battles here, plagues there - though those usually were dealt with quickly -, things kept turning worse by the hours. He longed for the days when he had had the whole power of Kanto behind him, even if they had been behind him to fight the Crimson Lotus - at those time he had been powerful enough to play a serious part in changing things. Now, there was no more effective government, and he simply was one of the many leaders of those who did the little they could to turn the tide. Sadly, whatever they could do was far from enough to seriously have an effect on things.  
  
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The gym leaders could have helped them pull through, but they had either vanished or were busy with problems of their own. Giovanni was in the vicinity of Viridian, though not the city itself, and so was Brock, working together on some project or another. There were no traces left of Surge, or of Sabrina. There was no city at Cinnabar anymore, and Evelyn, Blaine's granddaughter and his replacement as gym leader, was believed to have died in the breaking anyway. There had been no words from Fuchsia, Koga and Aiya might well be alive but they could just as well be gone. Of the Cerulean gym leaders, only two were still in the city instead of the original four. Daisy had vanished without trace, and Misty, perhaps the most able of them all, had never been there much in the first place. Erica had no gym to lead anymore, but she had more or less taken charge of the vicinity of Saffron since Sabrina could not be of much help.  
  
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"Something wrong Lance?" The voice, concerned thought it sounded as if the speaker couldn't care less about the answer, belonged to Lorelei.  
  
"Nah. I'm alright." He replied, looking at his friend. They had worked together for years with the Elite four, along with Bruno and Agatha - one of which was now out in the Moon mountains trying to funnel the flow of refugees from the Silver mountains chased by the reappearance of the Crimson Lotus, the other having long passed on, leaving the task of league seer to her apprentice, Tracey.  
  
"You sure?" The young - no longer so young, in fact - woman replied, coming to watch the world extending below at his side. "What do we do now?" She asked, her voice ever so slightly bitter. She had lost her family since the day of the breaking, at least as far as she knew. Of course, some of them were maybe still alive, but she had no idea who, where.  
  
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"Don't you wish sometime that we were just normal trainers, instead of being stuck trying to do the little we can to help the world?" he brooded, his eyes peering at the clouds forming over the mountains in the north.  
  
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"Yeah. I wish I never had heard of the Elite Four. Though...things were fine until the Lotus invasion started, weren't they?"  
  
"That they were." He nodded briefly. What they had found hard in those days, discussing the budget of the League and the State seemed so trivial now as to almost make him want to laugh. It would have, had it not been for the darker truth underlying the realization. If something was dark enough to make the economy of one of the largest country in the world seem a trivial matter, then disaster would barely begins to cover it.  
  
Columns of smoke billowed from the general direction of the Moon mountains, barely visible without the spy glass he held.  
  
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"Viridian's burning." He reported somberly. Lorelei removed her glasses, and nodded. She saw extremely well from afar, it was her close-range vision that was ajar.  
  
"They are growing bolder in their attacks. And they finally got Viridian." She nodded. The city had been their last stronghold four years before in the war against the Lotus, where they had turned the tide , a symbol of the combativeness of the people of Kanto.  
  
" There isn't much we can do to stop them..." Shaking his head, Lance looked down at the ground below. He could jump, end it all. Someone else would try to finish things for him, he would simply be one among the hundreds of casualties of the war.  
  
"Don't even think about it." Lorelei warned. "I don't give a damn whether you die or not, but you're the only person holding the people here together right now." She muttered. "Don't you dare die on us, Lance Ketchum. We need you still." Dark fire was in her eyes.  
  
"Hey!" He protested. "I wasn'T even thinking about it." He lied, wanting to put an end to her accusing barrage of comments.  
  
"Like hell you weren't!" the hidden fire in her eyes had awakened. "Don't." Her eyes were locked with his. "You." She grasped his arm, drawing him away from the edge forcefully. "Ever." She seemed like a feline ready to attack its prey. "Lie." The fire in her eyes slowly withdrew, replaced with something darker, beyond anger. "To me." She finished at last, snarling out the final two words.  
  
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"Whoa, calm down..." To say that Lance was taken aback by the sheer fury of his friend would be like saying that Cerulean had "Disappeared" during the breaking - obvious, yet barely covering anything. He slowly drew away as much as he could, though her hand was still locked around his wrist. "You can let me go now. I'm not going to jump off. Promised." He swore. He had never seriously considered it, her outburst obviously would have dissuaded him if he had been.  
  
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"I don't like those reports about the Crimson Lotus activity." Giovanni's voice was quiet and deadly as they held their war council in the old laboratory. "I don't trust them at all to leave us alone."  
  
"Of course they won't" Brock answered.  
  
"The question isn't what they're going to do to us. The question is, what can we do about it?" James surprised himself by speaking out loud. "We can't do anything about their plans as long as we have no idea what they are really up to." He pointed out, an unnatural calm and control holding him. He had changed, he knew...it just amazed him everyday to realize how different he had become since joining the nine. Once, he had been a loser, a pathetic incompetent. Once. His and Jessie's track record since the Rocket Civil War, when Butch and Cassidy had tried to take over, spoke much of their ability, and Giovanni had noticed it - and rewarded accordingly.  
  
"Yes, it is, isn't it?" Danea nodded thoughtfully.  
  
"Question is, how do we find the information?" Suzie answered right back.  
  
"We go looking for it." Jessie's confident shrug was not something he would have seen from her even two, three years ago.  
  
"That would be the best course. You two are much more useful on infiltration missions than here." The man they had once called boss approved. He still was their leader, their boss, but he also was...not their friend, not quite, but the next step to it. Outside, the great bellow of one of their two Rhymoth could be heard. The great beasts wrought of fire and iron could, if enough of them could be evolved, turn the tide of the war. Provided, of course, that their work base was not overrun before their knowledge and work could be secured.  
  
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"We'll do it." He nodded. "They seem to be coming from the mountains, a bit to the south of Viridian, probably at the end of that stretch of sea. We'll check the area out. Probably fly our way there, too." He smiled.  
  
"Good plan to me." Brock nodded. "In fact..." He seemed to muse for a second. "Bill, do you think we could use these birds we just got?" He asked their lead scientist. "They might be useful for a sneaky mission."  
  
"True." The man nodded. "We might as well start getting a use out of those."  
  
"What new pokemon ?" Giovanni definitely was curious.  
  
"Penumbra. It's a dark/psychic/flying pokemon. We obtained it by making a few natu evolves under certain special conditions." He reported, a certain pride in his voice. In barely over a week, they had already created two entirely new breed of pokemon, both of them beyond anything seen before. He had, as far as James was concerned, every reason and every right to be proud of his work.  
  
"That sounds like a very good idea. They should be able to sense enemies without being detected themselves. That's a massive edge."  
  
"That's what I had in mind." Brock admitted in answer to Giovanni's comment.  
  
"We'll go gather our things for the mission." Jessie stated, rising from her chair. "Can you have those at the main gate in two hours?" She questioned, obtaining a nod as the only answer.  
  
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They were, indeed, able to do so. As they exited the building, ready to leave, two great black bird, more like the size and shape of a pidgeot than that of even a Xatu, waited for them. They seemed to welcome their riders, their night-sky like feathers like a whisper of shadow in the falling sunlight. Their eyes shone like the moon or distant stars, bright silver points.  
  
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"Those are magnificent birds." Giovanni commented. "And powerful too. You are doing a wonderful job." He complimented Bill, then Brock and Suzie. The Rhymoth that guarded the entrance howled, a piercing sound that shook the forest.  
  
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"Well, good luck on your mission." He finished, turning toward the two of them.  
  
"Luck's got nothing to do with it. We relied on it often enough back then, now if that's all right with you I'll rely on skill." He smiled back.  
  
"Skill works." Their employer smiled. "But luck can help sometime too. Just don't count on it." He waved them goodbye as the two great dark birds flew off the ground, toward the south. 


	4. Shadows

The Greater Evil IV : World of Ruins 

Part 4 : Shadows

Chapter 16

Streaming golden sunlight slowly washed like the tide over the island as the dawn star ascended in the sky. Palaces and great towers revealed to its ever-burning eye, the flame that had warmed mankind for eons did not care, nor did it care about the strings of poesy she brought to all those watching. 

Watching the glowing orb of fire in the east, over the sea, Tanya couldn't help but feel those strings pulling at her, even though she had never been one to define herself as a poet. She was a fighter, a psychic, a Goth, but a poet? That has never been part of her idealized vision of self.

She had, however, wondered once or twice why Hosho was the one place in the world that was called the land of the rising sun. Watching the golden light streaming all over the half-rebuilt Hirosaki, she could easily understand why. There was a glorious beauty to the streaming golden rays that could not be found in anything else in nature, could not be found anywhere else either.

She had found herself on the island after the breaking, washing aground in the waves of a storm to see the broken, destroyed city. It had not been built to withstand the wrath of the world that had accompanied the breaking - or so it had seemed, at first. While their houses might have been pulled down they could be built back with ease - and their precious knowledge and technology had been kept safe, beyond the reach of even the electromagnetic shock wave. And with that knowledge, they had rebuilt faster than she - than anyone - would have thought possible.

Now, Hirosaki was far more than the half-rebuilt town she used to see of it. Buildings had replaced those destroyed three years before. Some of them, at least. The work was not done, certainly, and there was much yet left destroyed, but still, they had done far better than any other city she had heard of.

The soft, warm breeze that blew with the morning brought to her nose the scent of flowers as spring dawned over the world. Beautiful cherry blossoms flowers covered the nearby trees - sakura as the Hoshoans called them.

For the last three years that she had spent there, the spectacle of a city so advanced in technology yet in such harmony with nature would never cease to amaze her. Yet it was not for that harmony that she had stayed in Hosho despite numerous possibilities offered to go back to her homeland of Kanto. No, there were much more down-to-earth reasons for her doing so. She had spent the last three years reading through the assembled knowledge of the Hoshoan scholars, with the help of some of them, trying to find clues as to the nature of Avaraen, and their true reason to go on a campaign of blind destruction against mankind.

Of course, so far, little had been found. Oh, there were tantalizing clues, of course, but nothing that held enough truth to warrant her attention, to warrant passing along the information to her mother through the tenuous psychic link they managed to maintain on certain days.

Soft footsteps outside her door caused her danger sense to flare, within moments, she was crouched in a defensive posture, her blade-staff held ready to strike. The door opened slowly, revealing a young man in scholar uniform, short black hair - like those of many Hoshoan - around his head, dark eyes sparkling.

"Asuka-san?" She straightened, putting her weapon, a strange device seemingly like two sword welded by their handles, aside.

"Ketchum-san." He answered, using, as always, her family name followed by the "-san" particle. "We only have a few books left to consult. I thought you would like to work on it early, that you may head back toward your homeland soon." He offered. She nodded, not bothering for once to seek out underlying motives. Those were always present in what the Hoshoan did, but this time she did not even try to find what they were.

"Of course." She followed the young scholar, Asuka Nagori, toward one of the many great libraries of the city, among the most solidly built buildings of Hosho. They had all resisted the breaking, keeping safe the many books stored inside. Which had been, of course, the intent of those who had designed them, as the people of the Rising Sun put a great store on knowledge.

"How much is left to look at, Asuka-san?" She asked the young man. "Exactly, I mean."

"Three books only that might contain information on the topic. We do not have much about these creatures. The Feldars might know more, but to reach them is almost impossible."

"I know." 

The great doors opened before them, welcoming them in the lair of knowledge. Floors upon floors of books written since the dawn of them, kept safe by the meticulous work of an army of scholar and librarians. She knew some of the scrolls in there had been written milleniums ago, so much as ten of them. The knowledge kept in there encompassed nearly every myth, legend, and actual discovery of the people of Aysaka since the first human had walked the earth. 

It never ceased to amaze her, the wonders of the strange land she had found herself in. The people of Hosho had always kept a technological edge over anyone else, so much that they could have had the whole of Aysaka bowing to them had they wanted. But somehow, somewhere, they were only interested in peace, justice, not in conquest or power. They would fight if they had too, but only if they believed the cause was good.

She walked up one of the many twisted stairway of oak wood, carved in absolute beauty, not resembling the arranged beauty of what mankind could do, but the perfect chaos of nature.

The last three book they had yet to make their way through, after three years of long reading, were left on a low wooden table, carpet around it. Sitting down by the table, her knees resting on the ground, she picked one of them and started leafing her way through it. It was more recent than most, which was quite surprising as most recent books had a bad tendency to dismiss Avaraen as a myth.

This one, however, did not. While most of the first few chapters were spent on proving that they did exist - quite well, even though she knew to most scientist what was brought up would not have been enough - the seventh already seemed more interesting, as it was a thesis about the possible origin of the Avaraen. 

"Interesting that. This one's mentioning that Avaraen are really only shadows, that they really exists only in a mirror image of our world. They are shadows living in our world...their real self live in the shadow of our world." She mused about the idea. It made a certain poetic sense. "Only certain things exists really in both worlds. Starspire, and the elements, though their elements would be different in a way. Really massive thing have their shadow strong enough that they continue existing."

"I've heard about the world shadow theory before." Nagori nodded, a strange sparkle of curiosity in his eyes. "Though not about starspire and such existing beyond. And it never was linked with Avaraen."

Reading on, she tried to make sense of the puzzle the book revealed. How would the Avaraen, all the kind of beings that would live in this world of shadow, be born there? She forced herself to think. They obviously did not breed normally, she could simply feel it. The number of Avaraen in the world lately, right up until the breaking, had been far too low for it. A mythical creation by some power or another was possible, but...there was something not quite fitting in it.

Why were they back, causing more destruction and pain in a world already badly wounded by...

She froze. Destruction and pain. The Avaraen had been a non-existent threat, or almost so, right up until the Lotus war. Destruction, pain. The death of Tremayne, the breaking of the world, those had brought even greater number of them out. It might have been a coincidence. However, she did not believe in such.

"They're born from destruction and pain. And they're attacking us to cause more of it, because, for the last hundred year or so we have been busily trying to destroy less and less, and to make everything less painful."

"Why no outbreak of Avaraen after the Great World War then?" He pointed back.

"Because the outbreak was during the war. And I would imagine they moved toward the place where the pain was greatest - were most of them were born. And when the bomb was dropped on Rayme, their shadow form were taken out by the..."

"Resulting flash of light. Point taken." He smiled. "How do we know they go toward their main birthpoint?"

"Because they are still gathering around the place were the greatest pain still linger - the Alph peninsula, were a God died." 

"You know, that make sense. That make very much sense. And it works with something else I heard - how each of the element has a destructive side and a creating side...something tell me the difference between the two sides..."

"Is that the destructive side is much more common on their side than in ours. Fire that gives warmth, fire that burns. Water that gives life, water that drowns. Ice that preserve, ice that freeze. Yeah, it works."

"Why do they have a shadow in our world, and not us in theirs though?" The next question was out of his mouth quickly. He would keep attacking the theory until she had proved out of all doubt to herself and to him that it was the right one.

"Because the destructive aspect of the elements is present, though weaker, on this side of the mirror. Whereas there is no creative aspect on their side." She offered.

"You really make sense. I think you figured it out..." He rose and walked away for a few steps. "Actually, I know for a fact you figured it out." He smirked, darkness drawing around him, his palm turned toward her now revealing for the first time the strange twisted moon-shaped tattoo that was there.

"Nagori!" She yelled sharply, readying her defenses as bolts of darkness flew toward her, only to bounce off harmlessly and dissipate in the empty air. Shock flashed through her as he attacked again, another attack she narrowly managed to deflect. Surprised, she was unable to mount up either a more effective defense or any form of counterattack. What she could do would have to do.

"To each element, it's destructive form." He smiled, the twinkle in his eyes no longer one of curiosity, but one of pure evil, of malevolence. "And to each of the nine..."

"A destructive match." She growled, understanding and frustration washing over her. The young man who had helped her for all these months had just proved himself to be the worst kind of traitor there was. "Well, how do you call yourself then?"

"The Nightmare, of course, Mistress of Dreams." He smirked. "And before you ask...I led you down to this because hunting is much funnier when the prey know the predator could be anywhere...and know who and what the predator is." his voice faded as did his presence, darkness swallowing him and taking him away, as she reached for her weapon to strike back. "Watch your back carefully little Tanya. One day, I will be there." The words seemed to hang around in the air as she finally managed to grab it. As he vanished, she pushed aside the book, gathered her things. She knew what she had to know now, it was time for her to get back home. Which, as much as she hated it, meant flying back there.

Racing outside the library, she called upon her pidgeot, jumping on the creature's back in a swift motion, flying away like a thunderbolt racing from cloud to ground, sizzling through the air. The wind struck at her like a thousand sting, but she would much rather face the stings of the wind than confront Nagori again for now. She should not have trusted him, she had never trusted any man except her cousin, but somehow, she had found herself unable not to trust the young man. 

Hosho faded away like a half-forgotten dream, like a half-forgotten nightmare. The knowledge she had gained would be useful to what her mother and brother planned, and the information about the dark nine was something they all needed to know about.

Hours passed by without any attack from the nightmare, and as she finally landed on the chain of island between Hosho and the broken coast of Aysaka, not far from what had once been Lavender, she felt herself breathing a bit easier. At least she was in her homeland now. The wall of stone of the mountains between Cerulean and Lavender were a welcome sight, somehow heartwarming after the bleak revelation, even if they only were a thin blue line..

She hesitated for a brief moment when it came time to fly again, and head toward the valley of Viridian nestled between the Moon mountains and the stark wall of the Silver range. She could head north to Viridian, then to Saffron, then over the Celadon sea and beyond to Viridian. Or else she could make her way around the sea from north or south, by way of either Cerulean then Pewter, or Vermilion then Pallet.

Finally, she elected to make her way north, toward Cerulean. She soon was in flight, peering around carefully, uneasily. There was always the danger of another attack from Nagori - Nightmare.

Yet, as well as she watched, nothing betrayed the young man when he finally struck. Rising out of nowhere, the sizzling arc of black energy narrowly missed her - but far more important, and as she suspected, what had been Nagori's goal - it did kill off her Pidgeot, sending her plummeting down toward the sea far below.

Her heart leapt in her throat as she fell, the world seemingly going entirely too slow or entirely too fast, both at once. Panicked, unable to think straight, she desperately tried to come up with a way to avoid her impending doom, but nothing would come...The waves came closer as ideas flashed in her mind so quickly she often could not grasp them before they were gone.

Finally, she forged a plan at the last second. It would not work, probably, but it was worth trying. After all, with the salt water already so close to her, barely a few second after the dark arc had struck her pokemon, she had nothing to lose anymore.

Chapter 17

Shadowed ripples played across the crystal water of the small pond. Trickles of sunlight flared through the trees, golden flashes streaming from the water as Ash filled a bottle with it. The night before, flying, he had finally located the edge of the forest they were in. They were still moving north as best as they could, but from what he could see, could guess from the slowly dropping weather, they would soon reach a point where they would have to turn to the east.

In fact, unless he missed his guess, the rushing river he had seen in his flight, barely a few hours' walk from their current location, would have to be it. Oh, they could cross it, but what he doubted was that there would be another easy way leading in the mountains than the valley the river had to have gouged for itself over the years.

Walking back to their small encampment, he could not help but feel a strange sense of uneasiness settling him around him. There was an odd feeling to the air, one he could not recognize, could not put a finger on though he could have sworn he had felt it before.

A faint breeze stirred the three, but no signs of life could be heard. He shrugged off the ominous feeling, rejoining his friends. Gary was sitting off to the side, lost in though as always, thorn between the two women who held his heart within their grasps. Miyako was also lost in thought, resting, her back to a tree trunk and her eyes half closed. Tomoyo seemed just as relaxed, though a second glance easily told him it was otherwise. A small leaf fell, blown from the branches by the breeze, within moments two halves settled on the ground, apparently undisturbed - except that they had been cut in two. The young woman seemed not to have moved, though Ash of course knew better. It had been the blinking of an eye, but she had in fact moved.

Sabrina was nowhere to be seen, though again, that meant nothing. She could very well be toying with their minds, keeping herself out of sight, even though she was reluctant to call upon her powers now. She stepped out from under the trees on the other side of the very small clearing, a frown on her face.

"There's something not quite right around here." She stated. "An odd feeling. I'm not sure what it is..."

"I know. Something odd around here." With a brief nod, Ash looked at her. Tomoyo snapped out of her training trance, looking warily around. Gary did the same a few seconds after, Miyako finally getting up, taking her time, but once she was up, as alert as any of them.

"What are we looking for?" Gary's voice was cautious. An hand on the handle of his sword, he eyed the area warily, ready for anything. Ash did the same, his own blade half-drawn, ready for the strike. Tomoyo's stance was alert, ready too.

"I don't know. Something unusual, out of the ordinary." Sabrina's voice was tight, a soft surface falling to conceal worries. "Where did I get that feeling before..." She mused.

"That's the key, isn't it? Where did we feel that before?" Nothing was visible around them, but that did not mean there was nothing. Avaraen could hide in the shadow. Anything could be out there without them noticing. Yet nothing came out. 

"We'd better set out and keep moving, but stay ready for anything." Gary suggested, taking things in his hands. Ash nodded, his friend was right. 

"Right. Let's head out." With a crisp nod, he lead them north once more, toward the river and the edge of the forest. All of them were alert, ready to fight.

A heavy boot stamped the dust ground around the campfire they had made, finally stepping on a still incandescent small branch.

"They felt us." The voice was without feelings. It was as if the one who spoke had no soul anymore.

"I know." The laughter of the woman accompanying the booted, cloaked soulless man was filled with malice. "I was counting on it. Now all we have to do is let them drop their guard, let them think the odd feeling is meaningless." She smiled.

"And then, we strike." Sadism in her voice, she toyed with her small sacrificial knife. 

_______________________________

"What do we do now?" Lance looked at the small group gathered about the table. Erica, studying a map of the region, red flags representing the known location of enemy forces, and a handful of blue flags representing what they could field.

"I think we need to send people to look around, at the various cities, get a good, hard look at the whole situation, and help decide what to do." The suggestion came from Bruno, standing by the door, his trunk-like arms crossed over his bare chest.

"Good point." Lorelei nodded.

"What's the point? We lost already?" Mournfully, he looked away. HE had tried to keep his spirit up for the discussion , had failed.

"I don't think so Lance. There's still a lot we can do." Lorelei turned toward him. "You don't want to give up now, to leave all those people suffering..."

She knew his weakness, how he couldn't bear to let people suffer when there was something he could do about it. 

"There's something else. The fighting's going to come to an head pretty soon. We should try to gather some help, shouldn't we?" Erica pointed at the map. "We can't hold out alone against all the forces they seem to have."

They were silent a while longer, Lance considering with a weary sight how exactly they could change things.

"I just feel like giving up." He stated. "There's not much we can do."

Lorelei turned toward him. "Is that the Lance who wouldn't let the Lotus take a step farther talking? The Lance I knew? The one who stood up against them at Viridian?" Fire and ice met in her voice, calling on him.

"That wasn't me, that was Giovanni." He waved aside.

"Nonsense. History will remember you as the leader who pulled through that one - if you act now and force it to hear you. Change the world, and generations in the future will worship you. They won't care someone else actually did that, they'll just try to find every way to make you seem greater, better - to make you more of a hero."

"I don't care about being a hero." His words cut her short. "Guess I should still do my best...I feel it's someone else turn, but I guess I can't give up..."

"Amen to that brother." Bruno grinned, holding both thumbs up with a grin. "Now, what do we do?"

"Well, we go to look around. Try to find allies, see what the actual situation is, try to find a good place to fight whoever it is that's attacking all around off."

Lance took a deep breath, banishing all dark thoughts out of his mind. There was no point in panic, now he needed to be cool-headed, their leader...the one they had trusted in the past, and needed to be able to trust again now.

"Well, then, let's do it." the confidence in his voice amazed even him, as he set his mind back to work. "I'll go check out the area of Lavender. Bruno, you go south toward Vermilion and Fuschia. Lorelei..."

"I'll take care of Cerulean." His friend smiled. "Don't worry about it." 

"Right. Erica, why don't you go check out around your old town?" He turned toward the young general, feeling life flowing again through him as he faced action once again. It felt relieving somehow to be doing something again, even if it would not help that much in the end, probably.

"I'll do that." The young woman bit her lip, and Lance realized it must not be easy for her to return to her waves-covered homeland.

________________________

The speck of shadow flew out of nowhere at him, though it fell on the ground before even coming close, cut in two by the rapid strike of Tomoy's blade.

"AVARAEN!" Sabrina's shout had them all ready to fight in the blinking of an eye. The dark beings, flying and crawling out of nowhere, attacked, striking out with hands, claws, fangs and tentacles, mist of darkness that they could barely strike back at.

Dodging narrowly, Ash fell the black mist whirling past him as his blade sunk through the mirror in one of the attacker, at the same time throwing himself off balance to dodge the attack of a second. Tomoyo faced a group of them together, both of her blade cutting wide swats of devastation through the attacker, as did both of Gary's sword. Miyako, now a fierce dragon-looking creature, cast forth flame and light to dispel the Avaraen. Sabrina's psychic powers blazed out in blue light to push the creatures back.

More came. Ash found himself attacked on both side, summoning Tairen's power to create a shell of ice around one with his left hand, slicing at the other with his blade as he dove again, letting a third crash in the cliff. 

Five avaraen flung themselves at Miyako - two landed on the floor dead from Gary's pair of sword before they could even reach her, two more were swathed aside like flies with a burst of light from the young woman, the last one defeated with a psychic blast out of Sabrina's hands.

The faint rays of the dying sun barely reached them in the depths of a canyon, and those Avaraen were apparently of a deadlier kind, able to operate when light was around, low light at least. Stark cliffs rose on both side of the small stream they followed in the mountain. And on both sides, Avaraen waited for them, striking out whenever they could.

With a last tremendous blast of light, Miyako blazed a path clear of the dark beings. Racing, Ash and his companions made their way out, the circle of shadow reforming behind them. 

"Watch it!" The yell was Gary, as an Avaraen jumped from the cliffs above toward them, landing somehow safe and ready to strike at them. Tomoyo was there first, and her blade struck home, taking out the offending dark blot, somewhat close to a Pikachu in size and shape.

"Another one there!" Tomoyo pointed back, this time letting Ash to handle it. The second Avaraen didn't even reach the ground - landing at hight spead on Ash's waiting sword, he was dead by the time the two separate pieces fell down.

A few more fell down, but between the five of them they handled those while the larger group they had already faced seemed to wait out of range. They expected something to happen, Ash could see that, but what? There was no choice but to make their way forward.

And then, two hooded, cloaked figure appeared there. The strange sense he had felt a few days before returned in full bloom, these two meant them no good. A avaraen bird, strangely like a crow, flew around one, while the other held a sword, strangely similar to his own but seemingly blood-red.

"The One who Stood Alone. And The Child of the Dragon. We were looking for you two." The one with the crow, obviously a womean, said. "It's been too long a time." An unmistakable red glow surrounded the woman, revealing her nature as a psychic.

"Syraelle." Sabrina snarled, holding her staff low, ready to charge.

"It's good to see you again. Did you give my friends a good time before your friends killed them?" The voice of their enemy seemed fill with dripping venom. 

"You bitch." The blaze of blue light surrounded Sabrina again. "You're going to die!" She flung herself at Syraelle, blazing power striking out in bolts of pure energy as her mental defenses, the one she had used to keep away her emotions, cracked.

"No." Syraelle countered the attack, sending off the bolts. "You die. After all, the dark nine exist with only a goal - to kill the nine." One of the psychic bolt flew back at Sabrina, surprising her, sending her down on the ground.

"Dark nine?" Startled, Ash looked at the two of them.

"Of course! You didn't think Rethen would let you get away with interfering with his plans without sending people after you? The elements have a dark side just as much as a good side - and there are the dark nine just as much as the nine. I am the hungering, the psychic dark nine. My friend here is the Slayer, the Dragon dark nine. We have been looking for you two for a while now. And now that we have found you..."

Sabrina rose slowly, sending another flurry of attack at Syraelle. As Slayer walked toward him, Ash fell in a standard defensive stance - but Gary rushed in from the side, attacking the cloaked being. Their blades clashed as Ash rushed in to the attack, but Syraelle, distracting some energy from her defenses, flung Gary away as easily as if he was made of paper.

She countered another flurry of psychic bolts, sending them bouncing off the walls of the canyon. Be it luck or be it fate, one of them cracked open the wall, revealing a cave.

"In there!" Miyako's yell resounded as she raced to the newly revealed entrance. They followed her, Ash using a short blast of ice to disengage from the battle with Slayer and Sabrina teleporting out of the way immediately after a flurry of bolts. "I'll hold them off!" the young woman yelled. "You all, get further in.

The cave seemed deep enough to offer them a protected zone, perhaps even leading to another way off, further away. All in all, it seemed like their best chance, at least to gain some time to get ready, if not to avoid the fight altogether.

"No way, I'll do that!" Ash countered, calling upon Tairen's power again, remembering how he had held back a pack of angry Tyranitar in the same way once before. Ice formed on the edge of the entrance as Miyako fired blasts of light at the approaching enemies through the narrowing gap. As soon as it was closed, they made their way deeper in toward the others, Ash repeating his trick a few more time to make sure to slow down the enemy enough.

They were safe, at least for now.

Chapter 18

"I don't like the look of those birds." Keeping close to the cliff, Misty glanced above.

"I've never seen the like of them before. But they don't look like Avaraen." Jeffrey mused as he watched the two dark figures circling above.

"They've been circling above this spot for awfully long. I think they're pointing our location to someone." The third to speak was Naia.

"What can we do about them though?" With a questioning glance at the group, Sarah looked up again. "I don't think I can shoot that high."

"I don't think so either." Misty did not bother to turn her head to reply.

They crawled their way further in the canyon, trying as they could to stay out of sight of the circling birds. They had made their way in the mountains for days, weeks even, following what they only could describe as the trail of those who had kidnapped Elayne.

So far, they had met nothing that could be their base. Weariness had begun to settle in, but they went on. They had done too much already to give up now.

"May, can't you do a thing about those?"

"Sorry Misty. I tried to use those little powers I was given, but the bird just...they aren't there. Not like Avaraen, like dark type." She detailed the problem.

"Crap." For a moment she toyed with the idea of summoning one of her pokemon to use some ice attacks, then discarded it.

They walked a bit further down the path, towering stone walls on each side. There was little light in the depths of the trench, unless the sun was directly above it, and May's glow provided them with a welcome source of light.

"I hope she'll be alright." Jeffrey mused slightly as he skillfully avoided making any noise.

"Depend on how much time we give them before we get in." Misty's hand went to grip her handle of her sword of their own accord, flashes of murders in her eyes as she started thinking about what she would do if they were too late. Sarah was apparently thinking along much the same lines, her own hand gripping her long bow.

"Guys..." May was looking upward still.

"What is it?" Turning, Misty had her sword drawn before even realizing she was drawing it. Held in her hand, the metallic blade seemed to give off a golden glow as it reflected May's inner light. 

"The birds. They're gone." Her voice was tight, and her own sword half-drawn. Her golden aura, the gift she, as part of the nine, had received from Ho-oh, the phoenix, was joined by a slight blue one as her old mental link to the soul of an Alakazam still trapped in her mind came in action again. 

"Any idea were they went?" Sarah had an arrow ready to fire, bow drawn and one eye half closed, a position that reminded Misty entirely too much of Elayne. 

"Not at all." May slowly slid her blade out of her scabbard, eyeing the thin line of blue skies above them warily. "They just...vanished." 

"That's a psychic trick." Reflexively, Misty moved closer to the canyon wall.

"No, actually. A trainer trick would be my guess. I think I saw red flashes of light just before they vanished. You draw your conclusion." May turned slowly away.

"We're in deep trouble." Misty did just that. "Their trainers know we're here now, so they're likely to be on us anytime soon."

"Yeah, but are they friends, or foes?" May surprised her with the comment. "Lotus troops wouldn't use pokemon. Avaraen aren't pokemon, and don't get recalled in pokeballs. So draw your own conclusions..." The young woman left it hanging.

"Good point." Nodding slightly, Jeffrey nonetheless made sure he held his halberd ready to strike.

"Someone's coming. I think I encountered those minds before, but then again, they might as easily be friends as Lotus - the later more easily, perhaps." Her eyes locked warily on what seemed to be the mouth of the canyon, were the lowering ridges met the slowly rising floor.

Two cloaked shadows stepped out of the way, blades held ready. A much smaller figure, extremely familiar, stepped between them, energy blazing around it.

___________________________________

"Are you sure of this?" The voice of the young woman was worried. Oh, she had reason enough to be worried, of course, but, holding her cloak closed, the older woman who went by the name of Siren among her peers set to work on settling those worries, those fears. After all, she could not be allowed not to do what they had meant to be done here.

"As sure as I can be, my lady Lily." She smiled. She knew she had to convince her, none of her sisters, especially the youngest, would fall for it.

"It will keep Cerulean safe from those Avaraen?" Suspicion covered her face. "I'm not too sure about that." Even she was reluctant to fall. With a confident smile, Lorelei reached out to touch the young woman's shoulder.

"I can guarantee it. Not a single citizen of Cerulean will be harmed by those Avaraen after you're done. They will never set foot here again. All it take is a bit of dedication."

"Yeah, well. Why isn't Lance using it to protect the other cities then?" Questioning glance again, she was far more intelligent than most had assumed her to be up until the Lotus wars, when she and her sisters had dropped the pretense of being simpletons only interested in the material side of life. Still, even Lorelei had trouble adjusting her plan to their actual level of intelligence.

"He's being a coward. He's a pathetic weakling now." She knew it was a lie, she did not want to say such things about him, but what choices were there? She had to convince Lily, and she had to find a way around Lance's existence to do so. Lying was easier than having to kill him, something she could never do, not even if her life depended on it. "He gave up." She spat the words. Them being true, or at least having been so, made it no easier for her to utter them.

"I heard that too." Lily nodded slowly. "Are you really sure this is the best way to protect the town?" She asked again.

"I'm as certain as I can be." Putting on her best smile, she let her eyes lock with those of Lily. She hoped fervently her gaze didn't betray the lie, didn't reveal her duplicity.

"What does it involve again?" Reluctant. She definitely still was reluctant, but closer to giving in, at least.

"Nothing much. It's simply an old power, mostly forgotten...you can use your own blood to keep them away - the blood of each of your finger, cut. It's a great price, but it will keep your town safe from Avaraen." She had no problems uttering the words, they were true. With the power Lorelei had summoned on the young woman, her sacrifice would make sure no Avaraen ever stepped in Cerulean.

"I..." Her voice broke, she shivered. "I'll...do it." She shuddered, looking at her long slender fingers, which she had just agreed to have reduced to stumps soon enough.

"Good." Lorelei rose. She could have done what she had asked the young woman to do herself, but putting the curse upon herself was nearly impossible. Why Kiljaeden had refused to do it in her stead was beyond her - perhaps he simply did not have the same power that she, as one of the dark nine, had - , but she didn't care much about in either way.

"I have to leave now." She smiled. "I'm still far from done with my inspection, trying to see how we can end the suffering of this world and its people, you know, all that." She smiled again. It wouldn't do at this point to reveal the idea to do so was Lance, it would break her whole cover story.

"I understand..." A tremor in her voice, Lily held out her hand. "Good luck finding a way to end it all..." Her eyes were slightly glazed off.

They had, of course, already found one. She had started to implement it, the plan that she and Jared Kiljaeden, Rethen's high priest, had created between the two of them, to end the suffering. After all, if the entire world was to be destroyed, no one, nothing would suffer anymore.

"We'll do something." The confidence was easy to come by, they already had done something, and Lily would be the key to their success, without ever realizing it.

"I know you will..." Her hesitation was easy to understand, surprising only in that it was so weak. After all, she had just agreed - as far as she knew - to live our the rest of her life as a cripple, unable to do much. The reason for asking her to do so was not the one Lorelei had created.

The darkness would come from any wound, but once she had become the conduct for the destruction they hoped to unleash, it wouldn't do at all for her to kill herself. Fortunately, fingerless, she would have a hard time of slicing off her head, perhaps the only way she could end the process.

______________________________

"Who are you?" One of the cloaked figure held out a sword, as the creature at their feet packed up energy around it. The voice, however, was definitely familiar - a voice which had, at first, for years been among the things Misty hated to hear the most, then slowly had turned side, becoming the voice of a friend.

"James? That's you?"

"Well, I'll be damned. The twerp." The other voice was just as unmistakable, as now as the shape of the small creature - a rodent surrounded in a wreath of electricity.

"Pi? Kachu!" The creature yelled and threw himself at her, a smile appearing on his face.

"Raiken! Jessie! James!" Great to see you all!" Misty grinned as the little electric pokemon threw itself at her.

"Well, I'd be lying if I said I'm not happy to see you again twerp." Jessie grinned back. "And for once you don't have to prepare for trouble around us." She smiled. "Well, you might have to prepare for trouble, but not because of us." The grin playing across her face was now visible even in the dim light.

"Great to see you two again!" Jeffrey agreed. "Might as well tell you, Felicity and Ralph are fine, they are helping out at the wall." He pointed out, referencing to the pair of ex members of team rocket.

"Yeah, heard about them from the boss." James replied as the two group joined near the exit of the canyon. "May...Miss Oak that is..." He turned toward the young woman. They had only met for a few minutes before the final showdown with Tremayne, and never before.

"May's fine. So you are that pair of Rocket, are you? I've heard a lot about you." She smiled, her golden light flickering a little.

"Yeah, I guess that'd be us." James blushed. "I guess you didn'T hear much good about us, uh?" A sheepish smile across his lips, he turned slightly aside.

"Some good and some bad. You did fine against Tremayne." She countered.

"Sure we did!" Jessie grinned. "Just like we're going to do fine against the people down there." She pointed with her hand at the valley extending below them, of which none of them had gotten a clear sight yet. Misty looked, and gasped. A city seemingly out of a fairy tale, spire of pure marble lancing out in the sky...

And from it all, a permeating sense of unmatched evil. The stones, pristine white, seemed to glow with an inner darkness. The towers, reflecting the light of the sun, seemed to corrupt it, to taint it. And all around the cities, Avaraen were moving.

"Whoa. What's that?" Sarah asked, her voice awed. She had probably never seen a major city - if any such really remained - let alone one such as this. There were perhaps three in the world that could claim to match the glorious splendor of the city - and fortunately, none of them had the same sense of evil - Feldaranne, Hosho, and Tamako. All of them were distant, Misty had never seem them outside breathtaking pictures.

"Home of a lot of Avaraen. And who are you?" James' answer came with a question Misty had been expecting to hear for a while now.

"Sarah Waterflower. Damian and Elayne's daughter..." She went on to explain about her age. Jessie and James seemed not very surprised, but then, after their numerous adventures in the few years they had spent as friends, it as hardly anything out of the - she giggled - ordinary. 

"What's funny?" May looked at her curiously as Sarah went on with her explanation.

"Just that when something like that is not out of the ordinary, something you're almost expecting to encounter daily, things are weird.

"Very good point there." Her friend grinned. They had not been friend for long, but saving each other's life numerous time had helped establish a certain bond between the two. It was not as deep as the one Ash and Gary had seemed to share, but given time, it could come close to that.

While she considered the growing friendship - the first woman with whom she could feel such a friendship, even Elayne had not been that close, nor that kind of friendship - Naia introduced herself, and they went down to talking about the situation. She was a bit surprised to hear of Brock and Bill's big breakthrough, a bit skeptical, but the sight of the two Penumbra was enough to convince her.

"What do we do now?" Jessie finally asked, pointing at the city.

"We get in, get some info, get Elayne out, and back home." With a smile, pointing out what they would have to do, Misty looked a gain at the city.

"The Avaraen are going to get us." Jeffrey objected.

"Uh-uh...I think I have a plan." May smiled.

Chapter 19

"There's probably something in the clothes they were that makes the Avaraen ignores them." May pointed at the soldiers walking among the masses of shadow down below, around the city.

"Agreed. Best way to check would be to steal some and go around an Avaraen." James nodded thoughtfully.

"Point." With a smile, Misty rose, walking down. "Those avaraen can't spot me anyway, and I can handle those guards if I need. So, I'll get you some."

Watching the city still, May tried to push away an icy feeling as the young woman walked down the path. Of course, she was a deadly fighter, of course she was safe from Avaraen - as save as she could be - but yet, she would have felt safer had there been a way for more of them to go. She barely noticed the two shadowy birds trailing behind Misty, the smiles on the faces of Jessie and James, but when she did notice them, they relieved her far more than she would have expected.

Her fears proved unjustified. Soon enough Misty was back with enough clothes for them all to wear. She grimly wiped her sword on a clean cloth, yet her shudder as she watched the bloodstained fabric was meaningful. Death still did not agree with her, not the death of other human beings, even enemies, at her hand.

Putting on the clothes was a matter of moment, verifying the theory barely took longer. Soon enough two dead Avaraen who had never even seen or felt them coming were proof of that. 

Slowly, they made their way down in the valley, May keeping her eyes locked on the city for any sign of alarm there. If they found the bodies of the guards Misty had slain, there would be trouble, that much was certain.

"Halt!" The guard at the gates of the city might not be fooled by their disguise, she suddenly realized, her heart skipping a beat. If he did see through, they would have to kill him, leaving a trail of blood from the entrance to wherever Elayne would be held. 

Again, her fears were wasted. The guard gave them no more than a cursory look, then, apparently, satisfied by what he saw, motioned them forward, lowering his heavy pike.

"Get in, get in." He let them in as she breathed a sigh of relief. One part of her plan done, many left to go. Hopefully, they would all go as well as this one.

The city, seen from inside, was every inch as impressive as it had been seen from outside. Every house seemed made of marble, gleaming white stone shining in a strange kind of perfection. People went about their business, like they would in any other city of the world...

Except Avaraen were everywhere to be seen, black bodies walking, floating or flying around. Except the citizens all wore uniforms, all bore weapons, not innocent civilians but for most of them, cold-blooded killers. Their faces were stone hard, faces May would love nothing more than to punch. She had been a warrior, one of them, yet never as fanatic as those, never as eager to kill. Yes, the enemy was to be defeated, but there was more honor in defeating the enemy with as little loss of life on both side as possible...

Wasn't there? She couldn't comprehend how people could come to enjoy bringing about death and destruction, she had never done so. Enjoy defeating a skilled enemy, yes, for the very test of her skill it provided, but enjoy the killing itself, the fact of knowing she had brought about the death of hundres, thousands of other human beings? It was something she could never do.

She pulled her mind back to the point, they had to get deeper in the city, and to find the dungeons were prisoners were held. It was probably close to the great palace in the center, at least had she been in charge it would have been there. The palace had to be their headquarters, headquarters and dungeons required the most guards, therefore they could save precious resources by keeping the two together.

There was another wall between the section of the city they were in and the second one, further, in which the great spires of the palace - and possibly, the dungeon - and it seemed that the guards at those gates were both more numerous and more alert, carefully examining each of the soldiers who passed through the gates. They had Avaraen with them, beasts that as always made her blood run cold, creatures of utter shadow who seemed to like nothing more than bringing death to mankind.

"How do we get past those?" With a hushed tone, Misty turned toward her, her red-orange hair falling on her face as she silently half-drew her katana.

"I don't know yet, I'm thinking on that." Warily, she observed the troopers again. They were a bit too alert, seemed so at least...a simple noise was enough to draw all of their attention...

With a tin smile she focused her mind, the mental power that had been bound to her soul what seemed so long ago, and imitated the sound of footsteps rushing in a nearby street. The guards whirled toward it, drawing their weapons, the Avaraen moved forward...and as the sound of steel meeting steel seemed to be heard, most of them except two, and both Avaraen flew out of the gate and rushed in the alleyway.

The two last guards did not pay much attention to the small group of other guards seemingly coming in as they tried to see what was happening in the street without leaving their posts. Sneaking past them was done with ease, and finally, they were in what seemed to be the inner city. 

More guards patrolled the streets here than in the area they had just left, many of them accompanied by Avaraen, holding up weapons. Their uniforms were slightly different as well, though the differences didn't mean much to her, beyond the fact that they seemed to be lead by higher ranking officers. She didn't think much of it, in her opinion sergeant were the better members of any army, not big-headed enough to stop thinking coherently, but experienced enough to know what was going on.

There was one thing she was glad for with the uniform, the fact that it was an hooded cloak, keeping her face hidden. Any number of the troopers had been part of the Crimson Lotus when she had lead their troops in war, and many of them would have certainly recognized her.

The gates of the Palace came nearer, as it became apparent from the screams and barred window which of the tower was the dungeon. Different paths lead to each entrance, and they stood there.

"Well, guess we each go our own way now..." Jessie whispered softly, pulling closer to the palace. It was not like what May had heard of her to behave that way, but then again, perhaps she had enjoyed being reunited with her friends.

"Yeah...you really think you can handle getting information out of that Palace alone?" Jeffrey seemed worried.

"We have to, don't we?" James' fatalistic replies had held an uncomfortable truth. Sensing somehow a troubled mind behind her, May turned to face Misty. Her face reflected great anguish, as if she was torn apart between two feelings.

"I'll go with them." She finally decided. "They need some backup, and I think I'm best for giving it to them..." Her eyes were pain-filled, a pain May felt reflected deep within her, a feeling of being shunned aside for Misty's old friends. 

"Yeah...I guess you are..." Her voice quivered, shook, like trees in the wind.

"Look...take care k...I...I'd stay with you all, but I really think...I just know I have to be with them. Call in instinct or whatever...it's just what I think I should do. Take care though May." Misty's voice was just as thick with emotion, pain, as if she felt she was being a traitor. 

"I will." With a quick promise, she turned again to face Jessie and James. "Do we rendezvous outside the city, at that old canyon?" She asked quickly.

"Yeah. If we don't get there, say, by tomorrow night, get out and get to Pewter. Asks around for Brock, Misty's friend. He'll lead you to Giovanni's base of operation, and we'll rendezvous there. If you have Elayne with you, things should work out well." Jessie nodded quickly. 

"See ya there!" Jeffrey waved discreetly, moving toward the prison. May turned behind, with one last aching look.

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Turning away from her last look at May, Misty wondered again why she had chosen to accompany Jessie and James. There were perhaps no answer to be given, simple...instinct. She would have to wait and see what had brought her to this junction in time and space.

"You coming twerp?" There was a slight mocking tone in Jessie's voice. With a weary sight, Misty followed. The walls of the palace seemed bleak and flawless, but the two ex-criminals weren't about to let themselves be undone by something as simple as a marble wall. Within moments they had found an unguarded window, moments later they were inside.

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The mountains of Lavender were high and tall, the passes through them rugged and hard to follow to Tanya's tired feet. She had managed to survive the unlucky encounter with her dark mirror image, Nagori, but she only at the price of tapping further in her psychic power than she had ever done, exhausting her and keeping her down for a few days in Lavender.

Now, though, she no longer felt the exhaustion, only a well of power the like of which she had never felt...such power that was beyond even what her mother was able to tap in. A power that lured her, drew her - scared her. Somehow, her strange life-saving act had broken an unseen barrier on what she could tap into, increasing her power to level she had never dreamed of.

From the mountains, it took her only another day to reach Cerulean, making her way through to the outskirts of the city. The stark walls of Mount Moon waited behind, guarding the passes that would lead her to Pewter then her family. 

Cerulean was one of the city of Kanto who had survived the breaking best, retaining her beauty and at least some of her vigor. Oh, it had lost much, but far less than Viridian, let alone Celadon. The sapphire-blue sky of late evening slowly covered the world as she tried to find a place in the city where she could stay for the night.

Strange voices seemed to whisper from within the city, a strange presence of narrowing darkness she could feet at the back of her mind, getting closer, but she could not pinpoint the source or event get a general idea of where it came from...perhaps it was only a dark feeling for the future, she had no idea.

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"We were intercepted by a force claiming to serve the "true lotus" And the "Silver Lotus", general Starkhad. They surprised us, and while we took Viridian, the civilians managed to flee thanks to their intervention. Misty clenched her fist in helpless rage and frustration as she heard of the destruction of the city - and moreover, as she heard of the city being destroyed from the very mouth of a man she had once considered her friend.

"You have failed me General Klaus." The bearded man sitting on what seemed to be a throne held an icy glint in his eyes. "Nelson's pathetic attempts are not enough to explain your failure. You...did not put enough effort in your task. I'm afraid I must...punish you. Guards?" He turned toward the doors, were two heavily armored soldiers stood.

They opened the door, letting in a group of soldiers in the same kind of armor, flanking a young woman bound hand and feet.

"Your youngest sister, I believe, is that correct?" The man, Starkhad as Todd had called him, turned toward the young man. Todd did nothing, did not answer, but the anguish in his eyes spoke for him. If she was not his little sister, she was close. "WE have taken much losses thank to you General Klaus. They must be made up for with new troops...your sister will make a few nice Avaraen, or at least her blood will." 

"No..." Todd's voice was barely audible, and Misty felt a sharp surge of guilt and horror as she watched on...she had to do something. The face of her companions reflected her.

"We can't do a thing without revealing ourselves..." James murmured, thorn between mission and his sense of what was right, just as they all were. Misty felt the division even within herselves as they watched...

"Ah damn it!" With a steely sound Jessie drew her blade and her pokeballs. "ARBOK! LICKITUNG! RAPIDASH! SNOW PEARL!" She called out, releasing her four pokemon in the room as she let herself drop in through the window.

"Right!" James added, following in with the short sword that had replaced his spear, broken in the battle with Tremayne. "WEEZING! VICTREEBELL! RAFLEEN! All of you go!" he added, jumping in after his three pokemon.

"PIKA!" Raiken added in as he let himself fall in the room, unleashing his fury at the guards in fierce bolts of thunder.

"Starmie! Syldra! Rapidash! Seadra! Golduck! Lapras! All of you, I need you!" Her call was answered with the six familiar beams of red light as she jumped in as well.

"Misty? Pikachu?" There was a sound of hope in Todd's voice as they dropped in. The hope of the condemned, the one who suddenly saw a glimmer of light appearing in utter darkness - a way out where there had been none. 

"DEFILERS!" Starkhad screamed in helpless rage as the pokemon filled the room. The scream was taken up by the guards.

"Let's make it a fight." Tears of hope - or maybe it was joy - ran down Richie's cheeks as he drew his sword and turned on Starkhad, reaching for something in his uniform pockent, and withdrawing a pokeball.

"DRAGONITE! I CHOOSE YOU!"

Chapter 20

Misty dropped in a fighting stance as the guards moved in toward her and her friends, her katana held on the ready. Rushing at her, two guards found themselves pushed back by jets of water streaming out of Starmie and Seadra, the two great water pokemon covering both her sides. A third guard tried to come at her from behind, but thanks to the timely warning of Syldra, the dragonair who has once been her guide on the path of being the lady of the mists, she turned to meet his blade before he could kill her, second later her own sword was meeting flesh.

She felt no pity for the guard who fell at her feet, only a wave of frustration as blue energy surrounded the man who dared to lead those murderers, letting him vanish a second before Todd's blade sank in him. Golduck used his own mental power in the fight, though not to attack, rather lifting to safety Todd's sister, putting her out of range of the dark angel-like Avaraen that had stood silent in the room until now.

Lapras and Rapidash coordinated their attacks, fire and ice wrapping around the guards in deadly combination of well-timed strike that shattered all iron as the rapid and devastating switch from warmth to cold and back simply put pressures on the steel it could no longer take.

Rafleen was high above, in the rafters of the throne room, summoning icy gales at the guards, filled with shards of the hardest ice, pushing them back relentlessly. Down on the ground, Victreebel's vine wrapped themselves around the defenders, leaving them helpless before James' sword, while Weezing would unleash tightly controlled streams of noxious smoke to keep his master's back covered. Arbok's strangling method were highly effective, as were the swarm of small stings that could come out of its fangs.

Yet not all was going well. One of the guard had already struck a blow, and a pool of rich red blood had extinguished the fire of Jessie's Rapidash's mane, the pokemon's own blood. Standing over her fallen mate, her golden horn adored with a single red drop of ruby human blood, Snow Pearl flung fierce retaliation at the murderer, but it was already too late to save the great steed. Lickitung's tactic was much similar to Victreebel's as he used his tongue to hold target at bay for Jessie to finish off at her leisure.

The last two pokemon in the battle were certainly not the least ; Raiken seemed to fly from column to column, acting as a sniper against the guard as he unleashed a devastating power on them, filling their body with energy, and leaving them crippled or dead. Many of them tried to catch him, but he was always one step ahead, mocking their ability to do anything about him. Meanwhile, flying from high above and dropping fierce streams of flame and bolts of crackling energy, Todd's great dragon shattered the enemy defenses. Todd himself stood over his sister, protecting her from harm as best as he could.

Her sword sank in the flesh of another guard, sending him down to the ground in a well-deserved death. Two more rushed at her as they kept coming, but both fell as well, one to Raiken's fiery assault, the second to Syldra's flames.

The Avaraen flew above the melee toward Todd, its great black wings mocking them - but it had not accounted with those of their pokemon that could strike above. A brilliant white flare came out of Todd's Dragonite's mouth as a beam of pure white light devastated the creature of shadow, weakening it almost to death's point - a point it reached under the combined fire of Rafleen and Raiken, thunder and ice sending the great beast down to the ground.

Jessie and James were now back to back, their pokemon close to them, the enemy had managed to surround them, using their superior number as the advantage it was. With a single sign of the head the two charged forward, their pokemon concentrating all they had against a single point among the group of guards. The pressure was too high, the guards soon broke their formation, leaving free passage to the duo and their pokemon. However, as they got out, one of the guard who had been quicker to recover managed to deliver a blow to the neck of the retreating Lickitung, causing a cry of horror and stricken loss to cross Jessie's lips.

"It's time to get out of here!" James yelled, releasing the two pokemon the group had kept hidden until there because of their lack of fighting capability, their pair of Penumbra..

"Right!" Misty nodded, jumping on the back of her rather large dragonair as Rafleen picked up Todd's sister. "Todd, get on your dragonite!" 

"Right!" He yelled back, jumping on the pokemon as Misty's Golduck provided still more cover for him. The five of them flew off, recalling their pokemon, leaving the remaining guards demoralized after their heavy losses...

With a crash, the door of the main room opened. Misty breathed in relief that they had chosen to flee before the reinforcements could join in, and kept flying toward the window they had broken earlier to get in, knowing it was their best way of escape...

And was forced to veer sharply as a thick sheet of unmelting ice suddenly covered the hole there had been.

"Not so fast. This time you guys aren't getting away." The voice that spoke the words was entirely too familiar. The faces, as she turned toward the new arrivals, were equally familiar.

Butch and Cassidy.

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The five of them were clothed in uniforms similar to their own, but their very action spoke to May louder than any words. They certainly were not at home in the city, or even pretended to be, they were reading the place with a specific goal in mind, though no one could tell what it was.

It was easy, with the advantage of surprise on their side to silently overcome the group in a dark alley, and neutralize them, even despite their number disadvantage. Her psychic flow neutralized enemy with efficiency beyond her wildest dream, and soon they were left defenseless.

"What are you doing here?"

"We're coming to deal with your traitor of a leader, Starkhad." The man who seemed to lead them growled, his eyes blazing. May could feel the same fire burning inside her as she heard the words, she should have guessed. Ethan Starkhad had to be the one behind this city, just like he had been behind the failure at Cinnabar and ultimately her only defeat, at the battle of Viridian. Starkhad, and his unending ego.

"I should have guessed." The words left her lips in anger.

"You aren't one of his follower? What are you doing here then?" 

"Trying to free a friend of mine and trying to find out what's happening in this place." She replied slowly, considering the new elements.

"Excuse me..." One of the soldier had spoken. "Did we meet before...your voice is somehow familiar..."

So that was it, the test, the moment were she would have to reveal herself to someone who knew her outside those who had witnessed her resurrection and their friends. The men before her were enemy of Starkhad...and as such, probably on her side...with deliberate slowness, trying to recall the man's name, she lowered her hood.

"Yes, we did, corporal." She settled on his rank finally. "I believe standard practice is to salute your superior?" She smiled.

They did not smile, as their jaws dropped open, military discipline letting room to an expression of boundless surprise. They had not expected to see her among the livings, obviously.

"Ge...general Oak?" One of them stammered. "We...weren't...weren't you dead?" He asked, tears of joy brimming in his eyes. She had long been convinced those who fought under her command did so because they wanted to fight for her, following her out of loyalty, the man's tears confirmed it. He turned toward those who had followed him. "Form up soldiers. General, the 5th commando squadron of the Silver Lotus is yours to command." He saluted crisply. "I know this is what General Nelson would want us to do, and he is in charge."

"Silver Lotus?" She asked curiously. "I have been away for years, what happened?" 

"Ethan Starkhad seized control of the Lotus after the death of the grandmaster." He stopped as the news sank in. Despite his authority, or perhaps because of it, he had always been a sort of fatherly figure to May. "General Nelson, whom many believe was the grandmaster's new choice to seize control of the Lotus, led his own group away on a rebellion. Now he made them in a strike force, the Silver Lotus, one of the many small independent combat group fighting Starkhad's forces."

May nodded slowly. She could return there, but deep inside, she knew she was no longer really the same May Oak who had lead the Lotus. Oh, deep inside there were still barely hidden feelings for Eric, but she just knew she could never lead the Lotus - silver or crimson - again. No, she had to start a new beginning, if Starkhad was to be brought down eventually...a force of her own which she could use to unite all the small resistance group.

"Very well. What were you going to do here?" She turned toward them again.

"We were going to rescue a few of us who were captured." The man reported.

"Then, follow me. We'll storm their dungeons, get my friends and yours out of here, and then get out." 

"Right. Glad to have you back in charge General. Starkhad doesn't stand a chance against you." The man smiled confidently.

"I sure don't intend to leave him one."

As they stepped out of the small street, they could see troops rushing past, toward the gates of the Palace, weapons held on the ready. For a brief moment, May's thought went to Misty and the others inside the palace, then she forced herself to think back about the mission they were on.

The guards left at the entrance of the dungeon offered little resistance; they were five and her psychic powers wilted away their reflexes, making them easy prey for the rapid, unexpected charge. Disarmed, they were rapidly locked inside one of the first cells.

There were rows upon rows of cell, some of them filled, and as she desperately sought the key, May finally decided to rely on a much more effective method of opening the door. Psychic energy ripped apart the hinges, causing each of the grated door to fall down, while Jeffrey, nodding, did much the same with his electricity, blasting apart locks to let the prisoners out in vast numbers.

Elayne yet was nowhere to be found, none of the cells going upward seemed to hold her. Looking around, May noticed a stairway going down, she raced toward it, the other in close pursuit, weapons drawn. 

A rancid smell struck her as soon as she reached the lower level, followed by the horrid sight of what seemed to be a pulsating greenish mirror, reflecting a twisted form of the room. Through it, blood dripped from a corpse held to the roof by a rope, and from the blood falling the mirror, Avaraen were slowly forming.

"Oh my god..." she whispered in disgust. "We have to deal with that..." Drawing her sword, she readied herself to charge when blue light encased the summoning place. 

"I'll take care of that." The mysterious hooded figure who had just materialized in the room looked at them. "Thanks for pinpointing this place to us."

"Should have known you were involved in this somewhere, Kyle." Jeffrey commented, smiling while Sarah's eyes darkened.

"And you'd have been right. I needed your help to pinpoint this summoning pit so that I could destroy it, so..." with that, blue storm raged around the pit, ravaging it as the prisonners who had been held waiting for their turn to be sacrificed seemed to realize something was happening.

"Sarah? Jeffrey? Kyle? May?" The voice was filled with amazement and relief. "You wouldn't believe how glad I'm all you got her..." The young blue-eyed woman had an haggard look. "I suppose we should be getting out now?" There was still wild fear in her eyes.

"Yeah. Any idea where they keep the weapons?" May asked, knowing Elayne's bow had much value for her.

"Yeah, upstair, near the entrance. I think they use the most interesting ones as trophies."

Climbing back upstairs, they did find the weapons, and many of the prisoners, those of them with enough strength left, were able to arm themselves.

"Aimée's going to seal down time for a while now, except for me and you guys. You'll be able to move around, but not them." Kyle explained rapidly. "That should give you the time to get close to the doors of the city, and your way out."

"Right." May nodded, as a green light seemed to seal the world around them. They all raced outward, hoping they would manage to get far away enough while time stood still.


	5. Ruin

The Greater Evil IV : World of Ruins 

Part 5 : Ruin

Chapter 21

"We need to get out of here..." Todd was well-aware of the danger they were in, she could see it in his eyes.

"Get them!" Butch's order resounded through the room as a group of troopers raised their bows to shoot. There was no longer time to think. A beam of ice froze the one arrow that had been coming at Misty, but there was no telling how many more would have to be so repelled.

"What do we do now?" Jessie's eyes seemed to burn with an inner fire as she rushed at her nemesis, her Penumbra diving in close to attack.

"Is there any choice? We burn out the ice..." James reply felt as he knew it wouldn't be enough. Syldra let lose a stream of flame, but the ice seemed unaffected. 

"It won't help. It's not normal ice." Todd pointed out, his Dragonite diving to evade another stream of arrow. 

"Then we fight." With a fierce gleam in her eyes and a sudden fire burning inside her, Misty leapt off her pokemon, katana drawn again, rushing at the guards who had never expected it.

With a swift motion of her hand, she released her other pokemon again, hoping they would prove enough to turn the tide, even though they had not done so during the earlier skirmish.

"We need a way to take out that ice wall!" Todd's yell was nearly drowned out by the clash of metal as her sword met that of one of the attacking guard.

"Right, but how?" James' answer went almost unheard in the rush of feet as three more guards raced at her. They swung as once as she dropped the ground, driving her sword upward right between the legs of one of them, withdrawing the weapon immediately after, leaving the man screaming in pain.

From the corner of her eyes she caught a flash of blades as Jessie and Cassidy met, snarling at each other as they started fighting, using everything they had - not only swords but fists, knees, feet, teeth and nails in an utter display of savagery. She had no more time to pay attention to them however as a whistling noise made her hair stands out on end while two sword swung where she had been one moment before. She had rolled away just in time, jumping back on her feet just in time to see Lapras freeze one of her attacker in position.

"Can't anyone do something?" She asked again, parrying a strike from the remaining attackers, following the clash of weapons with a well-aimed kick, causing the man to fall down, his sword flying off. A slice of her blade later, he too was deal with - just in time for a rushing wave from Starmie to knock her down, out of the way of a wave of arrows.,

"Thanks guys!" She turned away from her pokemon to rush the archers, hoping they would not have the time to reload before she reached them. Fortunately, they did not, and dropped their bows to the ground to draw their sword as she rushed in. She had lost track of how the others were faring, keeping her mind only on her own survival as battle raged on.

One of the soldier managed to actually hit flesh, though only in the form of a minor wound on her belly. She breathed a sigh of relief, continuing her desperate attempt at survival, madly dodging and parrying, whirling out of the way, knowing her strength was slowly but steadily being drawn out of her, that she would not be able to keep fighting at her current rate for that much longer.

"There has to be a way out...a way to break that ice..." She did not say it out loud, simply whispered as her blade met steel again, the constant dance of death going on, still drawing her in the middle of it. She could not give up, let others finish the dance, not when the price of not being the last one on the dance floor was death.

A flash of white light filled the room as a straight arrow went upward toward the icy window. Dragonite was using his hyper beam once more, and the cracking sound as it struck was enough to indicate the sucess of the operation, soon the heavy chunks of unmelting ice fell down, and the window was free...

But before they could take advantage of it, another sheath of ice covered it, and Butch smirked as Misty felt irrepressible anger rising up.

"You won't escape that easily." The Rocket smiled faintly. "You've already humiliated us by breaking through all the security defenses we had in place, you won't humiliate us further. It's not like this city is free access for people like you..."

They were in charge of defending the city. The information registered on Misty's mind, though it took her a moment to understand the real meaning. Then it struck her. As long as they drew the duo's attention to them, May and her group would have a much easier time getting out 

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The gates of the city were still far away, entirely too far away, when the green glow slowly vanished, indicating all too clearly that time would soon resume its normal course.

"We need to hurry up!" With a yell, May led the fleeing prisonners forward. They still had the blinking of an eye left, or what seemed like it...

With a dreadful wrench, time became itself once more, and the Avaraen on both sides of her small fleeing group slowly turned their head toward them.

"I don't like that." Elayne pointed out, drawing out one of her starspire tipped arrow. The feeling was one they all shared, at least one May did.

"How do we get out of here now?" Jeffrey asked slowly, readying his halberd for battle.

"We fight our way out." With her reply, May drew out her sword, slicing the shadowy arm of an attacking Avaraen to the cheers of the prisoners. The others in their group with appropriate weapons drew them and charged at the four avaraen. They had the advantage of number still, and they were not so far out as to make escape impossible.

"Keep moving!" With a yell, May motioned the escapees forward, toward the way out and freedom, racing as fast as she could. A whistling sound on both side of her head was followed by two Avaraen who were moving ahead to intercept dropping to the ground as the starspire arrows fired by both Elayane and Sarah killed them.

"Great shooting!" Jeffrey congratulated them as the gates came into view, sooner than any of them had expected. The guards manning them moved quickly, trying to close them down before they could be reached, but again, their two archers proved invaluable, whistling arrows knocking the four guards before they had the time to lock down the great oaken doors.

The Avaraens behind them gave up the chase, though May could not tell why. It was as if some power or another had recalled them inside the city, a power she hoped beyond hope had nothing to do with Misty and her companions. They continued as fast as they could for a while still, finally stopping as they reached the canyon which they had left at dawn.

"We did it!" Jeffrey screamed as they finally reached what amounted to the borders of the city as far as they were concerned. The prisoners, finally realizing after all the excitement and battling that they were free glanced at each others, their faces turning in stunned disbelief.

"Were to now May?" There was a newborn respect in the young man's voice as he turned toward her. 

"What?" she asked in surprise, not at all having expected him to recognize her as his leader.

"What do we do now? You're the only one that can hold everyone here together." He admitted. A feeling of confusion seeping through her entire self, she watched his smile incredulously. Wasn't he the one who hated her? "I've decided to put the past behind, and do what I think is best for the future - let you lead. I'll follow you wherever you lead."

"So will I." Sarah added, holding her bow firmly.

"And me too." Elayne stood by her daughter, her eyes burning with a quiet but deadly flame.

"If Jeffrey's in, so am I." Naia looked at her defiantly, a look May felt compelled to return.

"I wasn't planning to get involved in the fighting, but heck...count me in too." The voice of the hooded young man made them turn toward the rocky outcrop were Kyle Stery had remained hidden until now, waiting for them or so it seemed. More voices rose...

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The battle went on reltentlessly, the merciless assault of the guards threatening each time to drown them in utter darkness. Their blades clashed, steel meeting in showers of sparks as they fought on, steadily pushed back in a semi circle around a wall, with their pokemon isolated out of the way, for those not killed yet. Flames had burned away Victreebell, and Misty's Rapidash had been in turn wounded, falling to the ground. Seadra she had recalled just in time, before the little pokemon could die from a pair of sword striking out at it, and starmie owed only to its extraordinary ability to recover to be still alive.

Only one pokemon had not done much since the start of the second part of the fight, she realized with a start, and, knowing the pokemon involved, she could hardly believe such a passive stance from it...it was not like Raiken at all to fight so little.

Dodging another attack, striking back viciously, she let her eyes wander across the room, looking for the little pokemon, panicking even if only a little as she failed to find him...no, there he was, standing off to the side, as if in deep prayer. She had no time to wonder at the strange behavior as another wave of attack came toward her, only to be repelled, thanks partly to her pokemon, partly to her blade and agility, partly to Todd's rapid intervention, his blade burried deep in the throat of another attacker.

"I guess I owe you one." She quickly turned aside to take on another attacker, fighting back with all the strength she could still manage to muster...whatever Raiken had in mind, it would have to end the fight in their favor, and end it quickly.

Jessie's blade sank in a man who had been about to strike Misty from behind, something that would not have happened at the start of the fight - was it only fifteen minutes ago or so, or the eons it seemed? - but that now happened with alarming frequency, enemies slipping in for a back attack only to be struck by her friends...she knew that if the fight went on much longer, one of them would slip behind her friends, too, and that then there would be no one to save her...

"Pi." The syllable was simple, short, one she knew well. Turning again toward Raiken, she saw his eyes open again, blazing with pure energy. He had something planned, she only wished she could tell what it was.

"Recall your pokemon, and get ready to fly out!" She suddenly ordered, watching as their flying pokemon gathered closer, Rafleen still standing high out of range with Todd's sister held in his claws.

"KA!" the room seemed to drown in darkness, and she could only begin to guess at the violence of the attack she felt would soon come. Her hair seemed to be standing on end as powers beyond anything she had ever felt called upon by a pokemon filled the room.

"Dragonite, hyper beam!" Todd had felt the imminent attack too, and as his pokemon gathered the light to shatter the wall of ice again, a single bright point in the suddenly dark room, they all braced themselves, Misty clinging to Syldra's neck, hoping her flying pokemon would be able to take her to safety.

"CHUUUUUUUUUUUU!" With a final yell, the electric rodent unleashed the power, a column of light piercing through the roof of the room and striking him where he stood, an orb of pure white light filling the room as the powerful beam of Todd's Dragonite's attack pierced the wall of ice.

They barely escaped the orb themselves, flying above it just as Butch and Cassidy dove outside, too busy with surviving to notice they were making their escape.

Turning back down, Misty fumbled for an empty pokeball, hoping to recall Raiken, but Todd stopped her.

"It's too late. With the amount of energy he used..." He shook his head. 

Nodding numbly, feeling tears filling her eyes, Misty watched down below, trying hard to ignore the lump growing in her throat. Glancing at Todd, she could not help but wonder if the price of saving him had been too high...he was a friend, but Raiken, Ash's pikachu, had been even more of a friend...had been...to think of him that way was more painful than about anything she could have imagined short of Ash's death - and unlike any of the things she could have imagined, this one had happened.

She was not the only one affected; both Jessie and James were looking down in utter disbelief, tears painfully visible in their eyes, and Todd was shaking his head sadly, guilt plainly written on his face. She was not the only one, apparently, wondering if the young man's life had been worth saving. Or perhaps she was, he seemed to have already found his answer - a negative one.

_______________________________

The thundering madness had died down, and the little pokemon could feel his life flowing out of his body, too much energy expanded on the attack that had saved his friends. He had done it, had succeeded in what he had set out to do...there were no regret, only hope that he had done enough.

The two rockets stepped back in the room, guards following them, watching in distaste the butchered troopers lying everywhere on the floor.

"Send someone out to catch them!" Cassidy's order resounded through the room. "We had three of the nine here, and we let them out..." He muttered. "If that little rat wasn't dying, I'd teach him what it means to oppose the dark nine..."

"No, even then you wouldn't." The new voice resounded through the room. "I'm afraid that when you prepared to deal with the kind of trouble Jessie and James had in mind for you, you forgot to make it triple." The voice growled lowly as a great pokemon entered the room, red-brown in colors and much like a persian in shape, though larger, except for the great white angel-like wings sprouting from its back. "And I'm afraid you won't be sending out people to catch them." With an evil grin, the strange new pokemon glared at the two rockets, who glared right back. His force leaving him, Raiken struggled to watch, to keep the strength to live on long enough to see the confrontation to the end. The two dark nine drew their sword to attack, only to be met by soaring flames seemingly coming out of the pokemon's wings.

"Tell me, what feeds eternally but always hunger, desire always more, and can never in the end be denied?" the pokemon asked, a deceptive smile on his feline lips as pain seared the dying rodent's body.

"No time for that." Butch and Cassidy roared, their swords drawn as they charged.

"You lose. It's death. And I believe it's hungering for you two, now."

As the first two words crossed the pokemon's lips, streams of flame fell from the sky toward them, forcing them to withdraw without taking the time to look again. Wearily, the pokemon turned toward Raiken, his eyes filled with a strange sadness.

"Too bad, rat. I wish I could have been here in time to save you." The cryptic words were left out as the last of Raiken's life flow ebbed out of him. Death came slowly, like a restful sleep after a full day, and as he closed his eyes one last time he reached out to the only one close enough he could trust with the gift he could still leave behind.

Dead, he did not notice the strange feline picking him up gently and carrying him away, out of the palace.

Chapter 22

It had taken Lily a long time to effectively complete her work on the strange device before her with the limited resources she had available now, but in the end, she had somehow managed to do it, and her creation stood waiting for her. She hesitated one last time, knowing once she started it, there would be no stopping it. The strange contraption was designed to trap with minimal dexterity required both of her hands so that she could not withdraw them as the blade fell, activated by her feet, and only to release her once the blade had touched the ground and she was fingerless. 

Reluctantly, eyeing the blade with distaste she let arms rest in the strange wooden half-cuff, closing her eyes as she tried again to find a way out, some other way of keeping her city safe that would not involve the sacrifice she was about to make. 

She slowly, she removed her left foot from the small wooden piece on which it had rested. With a loud clang, the upper part of the wooden device fell, trapping her hands in such a way that the only way for her to get out was to release the heavy blade that would cut off all of her fingers. Upon finishing its task, it would land down and trigger the spring that would snap open the wooden cuff holding her. With a disgusted, anguished face, she slowly forced herself to remove her foot... 

She couldn't do it, even if it was her only way out, she would rather try to find a weakness in the device and free herself rather than release the blade... 

Summoning all traces of courage she could still find, she removed her foot, letting the blade fall with a whistling noise that seemed to pierce her hearth - then suddenly she no longer cared about the emotional anguish as the heavy piece of metal of the guillotine-like device reached her fingers and as searing pain flashed through her entire self. It was like nothing she had ever known, and her cries of pain probably woke up the entire town. No coherent thoughts came for a long time as she writhed in agony - until horror replaced the agony. 

There was no blood seeping out of her wounds, none of the rich red liquid that would normally seep out of the wounds she had just inflicted herself. As she brought the remnants of her arms to where she could see them, the stump of her fingers an hideous sight, she could see only utter darkness seeping from them. She had seen Avaraen before, and that... 

It was no Avaraen, it was something even darker, more sinister, more...powerful. Perhaps the very power behind the Avaraen, at their core, their soul. It frightened, disgusted her, but it was too late to do anything...with her fingers off, she could do very little about the seeping darkness... 

There was only one thing she could realize as she watched in stricken horror. She had opened a gate to sheer destruction, one that would keep her alive forever as she was the gate...and with her fingers gone, could not close it. She would stay alive forever, trapped within her own darkness that would swallow, destroy the world... 

Shrieks from the street reached her as she sank on the ground, trying to closer her eyes, to bring her shattered hands to a place from which they could somehow block off sounds from reaching her hears. She did not want to listen, did not want to know how they suffered because of her naiveté.   
_____________________________ 

The sharp pang of pain subsided slowly in Misty's mind as she slowly felt the power seeping in her. She had half-expected it, hoped it would happen, and now as the memories slowly meshed with her own, she could only feel grateful it had, in fact happened...Raiken would live on, in a way... 

"I still can't believe the rat's really gone..." Jessie shook her head again. Neither her nor James seemed ready to believe it, even though they had both seen it.  
"I know." Todd sighed, then pointed out at darkness rising from the city, dark shapes somehow draconic, flying avaraen reaching to attack them.  
"We're not out yet."  
"I know." Misty's voice was tightly controled...her friend was gone, but his spirit lived on as long as she did - and she would see to it that she - that both of them - would be reunited with Ash, one way or another. 

The blaze of darkness coming out of the creatures were totally unexpected, it was the first time to her knowledge Avaraen attacked from a distance instead of fighting up close. 

The first blaze, unluckily, struck out where no one had wanted him to hit, badly wounding the wing of Todd's dragonite. The second was as well aimed, forcing Rafleen to land in turn. There was no choice but to all follow, to stand and live or die together, more than likely the second. 

"This time it's over folks..." Jessie's voice was controlled, though barely.  
"Yeah, guess so..." Her mind running through all possibilities she could see, Misty had to admit they were running out of options - seriously so. 

The avaraen advanced slowly, in tightly packed ranks, shadows attacking them.   
"I think they don't like us." With a wry grin, Todd pointed at the rushing creatures. Above, blaze of darkness still fell as the flying creatures went on with their assault. 

"Inside the houses, quick!" Motioning with her hand, James pulled them all inside. "At least in here they can't get to us from above."  
"Yeah, but we can't get out..." Misty countered warily. The door, made only of wood, was already showing signs of weakening.   
"It's pointless. I'd rather die in the open, fighting them." Todd steeled himself, ready to rush out to attack. Misty hesitated...deep inside, something told her she should be trying to survive, not to take as many of the enemies down with them, but there was no way she could find of not dying. 

Slowly, she drew her Katana, tapping in her newfound powers to ready herself to attack...they might, somehow, be able to breach out of the encirclement, make their way out of the city, but...she was not even fooling herself. They would attack, would try their best to break free - and would die fighting. 

But at least they would have tried, would have given their best in the attack. As the door cracked open, all four of them threw themselves at the creatures, though they seemed only interested in killing Todd so far... 

And were forced to watch in puzzlement as the beings went straight past their charge, ignoring them totally even as they hacked and slashed, heading straight for todd's sister. Calling out a pokemon, Misty could only he would be able to save the young woman as she finally realized they all still wore standard uniforms of the enemy army, thus protecting them from the Avaraen. 

Golduck was able to lift the young woman to safely in time as they tried as best as they could to hit the remaining Avaraen from behind, but soon they were being pushed back in an alleyway, beaten by sheer numbers as well as exhaustion. 

"And we didn't even give the rat a decent place to rest...I mean, that throne room..." James complained pointlessly. It was death coming from them, perhaps, that make them notice worthless details of their lives, things they now thought they should have done and had not, or things they would do differently if given the chance again. 

"Agreed. Good thing I was there to take care of that." The new voice spoke as a sudden rain of exploding fireballs fell down upon the attacking Avaraen. Turning, Misty watched in stupor as a great flying feline approached them, fire falling from his wings as he carried to them the limp form of a dead pikachu. 

As the Avaraen withdrew from the withering assault that devastated their rank, the creature landed between the dark minions and the besieged group, shielding them, casting forth light and fire in the enemy ranks. There migth still be a chance...maybe, with some luck, there still was a chance.  
_________________________________ 

Tanya could only watch in frozen horror as tendrils of shadows seized a woman in the middle of the street in mid-step, a strange fog swallowing her in the middle of the street, leaving of her no traces as the tendrils vanished as well, leaving only blank, empty space. Void. Nether. Carefully, she stepped outside, watching for any signs of it. 

There were none coming her way. The tendrils that had swallowed the woman had gone, and no other of the strange banks of fog remained to strike. It seemed like a tide that could not be stopped, but could only be in so many places at once, limited in what it could do. 

There had to be a way to stop the darkness, she could realize that much, but what could it be? No idea came as she raced through the city looking for a way to save herself, and as many citizens as she could find. No way to halt the advancing oblivion, to keep it from slaughtering the citizens, even the kids as the tendrils reached out from what seemed to be their point of origin and swallowed them, seemingly absorbing their energy and leaving no traces of it. 

"Any idea what's happening?" She stopped a running young woman.  
"I don't know! It's coming from the old gym! Let me go..." She eyed around warily, fearfully. It was too late, though, even as Tanya released her, a tendril of darkness wrapped itself around her, and Tanya could watch its effect from up close. 

The woman seemed to sag for a moment, then to act like an skin emptied of all flesh, as if everything inside her had been drained out and fed in the now-vanished hunters. She vanished between an heartbeat and the next, becoming...nothing. She just wasn't there anymore, all the matter that had made her up swallowed, gone, undone. 

Her footsteps silently carried her on as she narrowly dodged more than once the silent streams of shadow, going toward the place from which an oppressive feeling now radiated...a bleak point she could feel through her mind, a strange darkness, not an avaraen, bleaker, darker... 

Screams continued to echo through the city as the darkness grew inside her mind, now formed in a strange dome of shadow above the gym...what had been the gym, and was now a broken piece of metal. Yet the dome did not reach down to the ground, not yet, leaving an opening, perhaps for the serpent like creatures to go and feed more energy in it. 

"I can't do this alone..." She breathed slowly, watching the expanding darkness. From where she was, the threads of shadow could be seen, endlessly leaving to snake their way through the city and swallow the very being of others. 

She reached out with her mind, beyond the bleakness, trying desperately to find help, someone who could give her an hand...but she felt no one, not a single one of her friend available. Suddenly, a bright beacon lit the darkness as she fell a powerful presence, and strange barriers crumbling all around the world as her power reached further than ever...and as she reached past the mental defenses of dark types, feeling them as she would feel any others, knowing she could use her tricks on them as easily as on anyone else. 

Reaching toward the brightly lit beacon, she brought it toward her, hoping the friends she was bringing, all those she could find around it, would be enough to find a way to do something, hoping they would be able to turn the tide.  
__________________________ 

"I won't be able to hold them on for long." The strange pokemon warned as he sent fiery light in the advancing army. Misty felt a dawning suspicion as she watched it again, realizing the feline, despite its numerous changes, had to be the same one that had for so long accompanied Jessie and James on their missions. 

"We have to get out of here..." The truth had dawned on them a while before, but as they tried to consider a way to do it, they could come up with nothing.  
All of a sudden, the pokemon raised his head, as if hearing a call from long ago, and his eyes shone a bright red in what seemed to be an answer.   
"Brace yourself, and hold tight to everything you have." His warning came not one second too early as suddenly, something, some strange power seemed to reach past her mental defense, deep into her brain, and to draw her... 

The wall of advancing Avaraen slowly vanished, replaced by pure, white light in which she could barely perceive the form of her friends... 

Then, the white light vanished in turn, to be replaced by what was, to all extent, another vision of nightmare. Cerulean, her hometown, being slowly conquered, destroyed, devastated by some unknown, gruesome darkness. 

Screams erupted all around them as they turned to face an obviously relieved Tanya.

Chapter 23

"What's happening here?" Looking around frantically, Misty tried to understand the darkness, the shouts rising all around her.

"I don't know!" Tanya answered quickly. "That darkness thing appeared above us a few hours ago, I'm glad I could get you to come here and help!"

"Right." With a sharp nod, James drew his sword. Jessie followed suit, soon imitated by Todd.

"Asandar." The voice of the strange sphinx-like pokemon that had saved them came suddenly. "The utter darkness." 

"What? What the heck are you talking about?"

"It's an old curse. Whoever's caught with it find himself as a power source for the nether, the ultimate darkness of the universe. Or more accurately, a power source for a gateway letting the nether in our universe." The explanation made little sense to Misty, other than the fact the darkness in question had to be stopped.

"How do we end that?" Todd's eyes gleamed with cold fury.

"You go in and kill whoever's stuck with the curse." The pokemon's rapid reply chilled her. 

"Let's do it then." Jessie resolutely strode forward under the mantle of shadow covering the city. Tendrils of darkness still trailed around, drawing in the life energy of thousands of others, but they seemed to be in luck, none of them coming at them. 

The streets were the all too familiar streets where she had grown up, played tag with friends as a kid, where she has walked from home to school. Only, now they were deserted, covered by a shadow deeper than that of the darkest night that had ever covered Cerulean. Her friends, those very friends she remembered from her earliest days, they probably already had been taken in by the shadow, turned in energy to allow the cover to fall further. She wanted to weep in disgust, to cry, at the destruction of her beloved hometown, but there was nothing she could do. Todd's sister, finally awakened from her fainting spell, watched in disbelief and horror, having escaped one darkness to be thrown in the teeth of another.

Cerulean was lost, and Misty knew it...just knew. Even if they defeated the source of the curse, the mantle of darkness would remain., Cerulean would stay under the black cloak forever. Her hometown was dead...would never rise from the breaking.

"Why are we even wasting our time here?" She sighed.

"To keep it from spreading more." Todd held his sword gripped in both hands, ready to strike, though they all doubted there would be something serious to strike at.

Nearing the center of the city was hard, as the ruined buildings became more and more familiar. There, the pokemon center, it's doors shattered and torn apart. Over there, the old hotel, and, standing magnificent - or it once had, at least - the gym, from where her sisters had been in charge of the city. Her sisters...they had taken a long time to stop fighting, to stop disliking each others, but now, the idea of them being killed by that...thing...was horrible beyond belief. She just could not, would not think about it...it was too dark, too...displeasing.

"We have to find whoever has the curse..." The strange pokemon's eyes remained locked on the rest of the city, eyeing warily all that was happening.

"Agreed, but where should we look?" Jessie glanced around warily.

"The middle of this place." Burning flames seemed to be inside those eyes, flames that would not be quenched. 

They made their way further in the city, advancing slowly toward what seemed to be the middle of the darkened orb. There were no traces of life this far gone under the bleak shield, except for one shadow creeping ahead of them by sixty feet or so, which they only located once they were nearly in the middle.

"Wait! What are you doing!" Misty called out, hoping that it would not lure the attention of the black tendrils.

"Misty? Is that you?" The voice of one of her sister came back in way of greeting. Judging from what she could see...

"Daisy?" 

"Great to see you, little sister. I was going to check what's happening here. You and your friends are welcome to come along. I seem to remember a few of them." She smiled. 

"You probably do, at that." With a smile, Misty led her friends toward the central point of the darkness - and gaped in dismay as she finally saw who had been cursed - Lily.

"We have to stop her!" She yelled at Daisy over the screeches of their wounded sister.

"Yeah! Let's go!" Rushing forward on one side, Misty on the other, they both tried to catch their sister and stop her. Tendrils of darkness flew out at both.

____________________________________

The ruins of Viridian were an heart-warming sight after the debacle in his throne room, Ethan Starkhad decided. Oh, he would much rather have had them taken intact, but if the city could not be his, at least no one would have it.

"What are your orders now, your highness?" The blond man stood besides him, black-cloaked, wearing the mark of the Stormbringer, the dark opposite of the Thunderer.

"Ready the troops. We'll march through the Celadon Passes and attack the enemy on the other side as soon as can be done. I have ordered General Stryke and General Murton to bring in the rest of the human troops here already."

"Good. We'll be able to move on against their forces in the vicinity of the Celadonian sea soon." The tall man reported.

They watched the troops gathering for a while more.

"Perhaps we should deal with Pewter and Pallet first however?" The suggestion was interesting, but it wouldn't eliminate his current major problem.

"No General. We need to take care of the main enemy trouble source, and that's Saffron. That's where they plan all their moves against us." He knew it to be true, of course. After all, he had been given the same gift as May Oak, psychic powers tremendous, but unlike her, he had actually known how to use them to survive. Oh, well. May was dead, and that was for the better, most definitely. Had she not died in that battle, she would have been murdered. All in all, it might have been better had she survived to be shamed and rejected for her cowardly defeat before dying, instead of gaining an honorable death on the last battlefield of the war.

"Very well." A sharp nod, and the man turned away.

"You still are betraying your master, you know?" The voice was smooth, cultured. "Our master. Our aim." Jared Kiljaeden stepped into view. "The world is not to be conquered, it is to be destroyed." The old lines made Starkhad laugh.

"I'd rather have a living world than die. If our Master is unhappy with that, his trouble, he did pick me for his dark nine." A coarse sound out of his mouth as he laughed again.

"Perhaps you'll soon learn you'd better change your mind." The man - madman as far as Starkhad was concerned - was gone again as he said that, vanishing slowly. He hated having to deal with their "dark seeker" and his strange ideas, but as it was, there was no other choice. Still, he would have to get the man murdered. 

A cold breeze blew out of nowhere, picking leaves, making them swirl on strange patterns, patterns he had never heard of, never seen before. With a sharp stab of psychic powers, he brought them back down. They had no right to disturb him, to draw his attention like that.

Why couldn't he, or at the very least Syraelle, be in charge of those dark nine, instead of that stupid Kilajeden, with his stupid ideas that humanity deserved to have the world yanked out from under it. It was a tiresome situation, one the would correct if he ever was given half a chance to do so. Oh yes, he would, and correct it seriously at that.

Pushing that out of his mind, he made his way toward the tent where he knew General Surge would be waiting. HE was one of those dark nine who had sided with him and Syraelle against Kiljaeden's lot and their obsession with destroying the world. So far, only the water and the dark members of their club had sided with Kiljaeden.

______________________

The tendrils of darkness wrapped themselves around Daisy. Her scream echoed through the air, drowning even that of Lily, a scream of pure horror Misty was persuaded she would remember forever as she slowly watched her sister being absorbed in the darkness, as if she was eaten by some strange force. No matter how she'd try, she would never be able to forget the scene, the utter horror of it, the helplessness that filled her every bone as she watched her sibling dissolving into energy.

"DAISY! NO!" Her scream came too late for her sister to hear, only when her mouth worked again. The others screamed too, though her name was as common as that of her sister. Reflexively, she ducked, knowing it was too late, that the tendrils would swallow her too, would kill her, just like they had killed her sister, sending her essence up there...

Darkness wrapped itself around her, felt her, despite her dark type, perhaps her defenses were too weak to counter the power of the invading shadow...

The darkness wrapped itself around her, felt her, and somehow, against all that she had expected, didn't destroy her. Instead it seemed to...welcome her. Accept her as part of itself, as if her mind held a tiny part of the essence of that thing above, as if they would not kill her - would not kill an ally.

With a flash of insight, she remembered the battle in Silver Caves, when another avaraen had overridden her mental defenses, nearly taking away her soul...some traces had remained, somehow, just like traces of an Avaraen possession had remained in the woman who had trained Elayne in archery, keeping her alive for uncounted centuries.

"Don't try to just hold her! You have to kill her!" The chilling order reached her as she watched Lily in dismay. Her sister, eyes torn from pain, lips locked in an endless scream of agony, fingers gone, leaving their place to the wounds from which the tendrils came...

"Do something Misty!" Tanya yelled. Black tendrils began to form again, to strike at her friends she suspected. Slowly, she reached for her sword, watching again the pained eyes...despite the curse, she was still her sister, to take arms against her would seems...against all that she believed.

"Please...whoever's in charge, give her the strenght..." Todd seemed to be praying, clutching his sword tightly. Slowly, she withdrew the blade from the scabbard.

"C'mon Twerp! Before that things get us!" Jessie was right, even though Misty didn't want to admit it, couldn't admit it. Again, the sword slowly rose, metal looking almost black as no light filtered under the cover of darkness.

She had to, she knew she had to, her friend reminded her constantly of it...but she just couldn't. Her sword seemed to weigh a ton in her hand as she tried to lift it to strike. Tears stung her eyes. She was the only one who could do it, who could end the madness...and she didn't have the courage to do it. Too weak to face what she had to do...

"DO IT!" The pokemon yelled, eyes blazing. "We won't survive long now that it knows we're around!" The words seemed to burn inside her mind, urging her forward, but her body simply could not, would not do it. She drew upon whatever she could find, tried to hold at bay those feelings that stung her eyes with tears...Lily looked at her, gratitude painted in her face. She wanted to die, as much as Misty wanted her to survive.

Taking a deep breath, closing her eyes, she brought down the sword. The tendrils of darkness suddenly jerked before consuming her sister as she watched in horror again. Then, where Lily had been , only a single orb of pure shadow remained. She reached out to touch it...

"Don't! That's the spirit of the curse. If anyone touches that, they'll do the same thing that your sister did!" The protests of the pokemon filled the air. With a slow nod, Misty drew away, her eyes still locked on the place where her sister had vanished.

"We should get out of here now." Tanya pointed out. Where do you want me to take you?" She smiled.

"I think Pewter would be nice. That's where we told some friends to wait for us if we took too much time."

"All right." She nodded slowly. "Pewter it is then." A glow of blue light surrounded her, then vanished.

"Sorry. I can't do it right now. I guess it expanded all I had to get at you and bring you all here." She apologized softly. 

It didn't really matter, anyway. They would simply walk, perhaps time would wash over the horrors they had witnessed, would let them be free of the darkness by the time they reached Pewter. Perhaps, if they were lucky. 

Chapter 24

She stood there, staring wide-eyed at the city in the valley below. It had changed, much, much more than anyone of them would have ever believed possible. But then again, the people of Pewter had always been stoneworkers, to find that they had been able to turn this ability to the effect they had was not so much of a surprise.

Stark walls of stone rose from the ground, well-squared. Towers and ramparts, protecting the city from any who would try to attack it, save those who would strike above. On the walls, archers and pikemen , well-armed and seemingly ready to fight, pokemon at their sides. Some of these she had never seen before, entirely new, a stunning sight, perhaps mostly due to the fact that she could see them at all in the distance - and see them as large as they appeared. 

Yes, the town had changed, though she had to admit few towns had escaped the breaking unscathed. Still this one had not changed only in destruction, but by creation too, great towers and walls shaping a new Pewter, something that had not been done in the cities of Johto and Kanto that she had seen.

Letting her footsteps carry her down with her companions, she watched as the pokemon she had first spotted became larger in front of her, monstrosities seemingly born of steel and flame to fight. On top of them, soldiers too, armed with bows and crossbows, just as soldiers on top of the wall seemed to man powerful ballistas, catapults, other weapons of war that would rain death and destruction on an attacking army. Wide wake of destruction in the forest that pinched at her hearth seemed to prove how devastating the siege engines could get.

"Whoa." Todd commented as they approached. "Great job defending that town. I'm not sure I could have handled that fight." Steel and pain met in his eyes as he spoke, determination and guilt.

"Yeah, I didn't think the older twerp would pull that one off. It was quite the surprise him managing that." Jessie admitted. "Or that he would turn enough of his new pokemon out that soon." 

"The boss did help." James pointed out, his eyes wary as he scanned their surrounding, suspecting possible danger even within sight of a friendly city.

"Stop there!" A yelled order from a man further down the road, followed by a score or so soldiers looking entirely too ready to fight. The man, the leader, there was something familiar about him. Something extremely familiar even, though at the distance she could not yet recognize him...

"Isn't that Jeffrey?" Tanya asked, the blue blaze flashing out of her eyes as she probed the mind of the approaching soldiers, searching for their intent. With a smile, Misty nodded in agreement, she recognized him now.

"Yeah, that looks like him." A smile crossed her lips. If Jeffrey was there, May probably would be just as well, and she certainly would like to see her again after what had happened in Cerulean. The others she traveled with where her friends, but never as close friends as May had become during their long trek through Johto, over the course of the last three years. "Great to see you Jeffrey!" She yelled from afar as soon as she could be sure of who he was.

"Great to see you too Misty!" He answered, picking up the step. "May'll be glad to see the lot of you." He added, before noticing Tanya, Todd and Jana, Todd's sister. A curious raised eyebrow was soon aimed at the last two.

"My friend Todd." Misty explained. "And his sister. We rescued them under way. I'm sure you'll remember Tanya." A brief smile crossed her lips as she rapidly presented the group, keeping silent the story of how they had rescued Todd - or from what. She would tell May, of course, but not Jeffrey, not just yet, not until she and May had agreed on how it would be best to approach the problem.

"All right. I'll take you to May, Giovanni and Brock, they are in charge here so..."

"May's in charge here?" Surprised, Misty turned her questioning eyes toward her friend.

"Yeah, she sort of...took charge, I guess...after we arrived here. She already had managed to convince most of the prisoners we freed to fight - with her as leader - and more people kept joining in, so Brock and Giovanni let her help with commanding as soon as she arrived.

"And you let her get an army without saying anything?" Surprise, again. Where had the Jeffrey who hated May, would not trust her even to cook a meal, gone?

"I was the first to offer to follow her after we left that Arvalon place." Widely open eyes met the statement. Things had certainly changed, for him not only to let May take command of her own fighting force without protest, but to be one of the first to offer to join such a force.

_________________________

Fires rose from Viridian Pass in the distance as the allied outposts there slowly burned, tendrils of smoke climbing in the morning hair, visible from as far away as the summit of the Saffranian plateau. Despite the vast extent of the Celadon Sea between the two places, the tiny tendrils could still be seen.

"They are moving against the western end of the pass." Erica's bleak voice reported as she watched. "They'll be on our side of things soon." No emotion, no smile. Only empty eyes as she seemed to weight in the price of stopping their advance.

"We can't let that happen." Lance shook his head slowly, wondering once more what had happened to Lorelei. She had, it appeared, left Cerulean before the disaster that had befallen the city, but no words of her whereabouts since then had reached him. He forced his mind back to the matter at hand, the coming invasion. "What can we muster to oppose that?"

"Most of our troops were already moving to Viridian pass. We can have pretty much all the troops of eastern Kanto there in time to fight, if we work hard on it." Erica, again.

"Cerulean don't have much to spare now...The city's in ruin, and most citizens are dead." Violet shook her head sadly. The scar that ran down one of her cheek gave her a strange, untrustworthy look, but to those who knew how she had obtained it - from her heroic stand at the battle of Cerulean then the further tortures at the hand of the Crimson Lotus - it was more a badge of honor than anything.

"We know." Bruno's voice was pained, something strange for one who had for so long been the solid rock pillar behind the Elite Four, the true strength of it, both mentally and physically. Nothing had prepared any of them for the tragedy, nothing ever could have.

"I wasn't counting them Violet." Erica's sympathetic voice added.

"I know, it's just..." There still was stunned disbelief in the young woman's eyes, a feeling they all could understand, a feeling of abject terror, horror that had stricken them all when the wall of darkness had closed in over the city.

"We need to plan our battle." Lance hated himself for having to draw them away from their feelings, but if they did not stop Starkhad...He knew, he just did, that if Starkhad was allowed to have free rein still, the results would be disastrous - for them all.

"What do we want to accomplish, though?" Erica asked, looking at the map, pondering. "Do we want to destroy his entire army, just retake Viridian and some space around that area, or simply keep him from crossing the mountains?"

"I'd rather we do the first, but I can settle with the last one." Bruno's reply was laconic.

"Depending on what we actually set our aim toward, we'll have to use completely different plans."

"True." Lance slowly nodded. "Well, outline different plans and how successful you think they'd be, then." He slowly ordered the young woman. She bent to peer closer at the map outlining the pass. Sometime she'd rise to ask questions of Bruno regarding the exact layout of the ground in the area as she planned things out, but for the most part she was silent.

"I can't bring down his army." She stated finally, shaking her head. "Even with the terrain advantage we're likely to have fighting at the eastern end of the pass, he has us outnumbered too much to risk it." Slow sights left their lips. They would all have wished for a plan to final victory instead of explanations of why it couldn't happen, but...Well, there was no use weeping over what just couldn't happen. They would not slaughter Starkhad's army, and that was that.

"Retaking Viridian then?" Bruno asked hopefully, slowly. Again Erica peered down at the map, her eyes intent. Lance slowly joined her, peering at the mountains and rivers, looking for any advantage his untrained eye might perceive. He found none, second later his wishes that Erica would have more success were not answered.

"Even that...we can push them out of the pass. Anything more would be risking too much to gain too little. As long as we are in the pass our flanks are more or less protected, but if we go outside it...we'll leave ourselves open to attack, and then..."

"Very well. How do you propose to hold the pass then?" Violet asked slowly, her voice tight, as if she was holding back some surge of emotions.

__________________________________

"Starkhad's making his move." May observed slowly, still a bit unsure about the whole notion of using pokemon to scout out the movements of their enemies. She had learned, of course, witnessed too, just how much of a lie the claims of the Lotus about the strange creature were. She had, yet a strange suspicions arisen from the break in her family remained deep inside.

As long as she would not understand why both her brother and grandfather had become so engrossed in pokemon, she could not in any way bring herself to trust them. The wings of the great beat under her tore at the sky in a long flight, as they had done more than once before, too high for Starkhad's lookout to pay more than passing attention to them, but...

"Yes. Viridian pass." Misty, born to pokemon training, had no such difficulties with the idea of trusting pokemon, of course. Somehow, May envied her, but the jealousy vanished rapidly in front of the tight bounds of friendship established during their long trek.

"The League - if we can still call it that - isn't standing idle." She pointed at the lines of men moving in from the east as well as the west. They were thinner, fewer in numbers, but fighting on the defensive, on a terrain well built for it, they could easily hold back Starkhad's army - be a steadfast anvil that nothing would pierce.

All they needed was an hammer to bring defeat to Starkhad's forces.

"I think we'll want to bring down our forces there." She stated slowly, already drawing in her mind plans on how best to move her forces to support the defensive tactics of the league.

"True." Misty nodded slowly, peering closer. "There are a few good places were we could hide some forces for ambush down the pass, but the best we have I'd say is just to ram them from behind once they are in the pass."

"That's the plan I was considering already." A wry grin crossed her lips. She had taught Misty much, but knew more yet that remained unmentioned.

"I should have known." A smile, sheepish. "I guess we need to get back to Pewter to warn Giovanni and Brock of those development now?" A raised eyebrow accompanied the comment.

"Yes." Nodding quickly, she slowly guided her beast in a delicate half-turn, flying slowly north. Misty followed suit with ease.

The flight back home was uneventful, the troops waiting for them on the walls of Pewter rather glad to see them back. Some scouts had not returned, and there had been worried over May going on her own, especially amongst those who had sworn to follow her.

The main meeting room of the castle sported no gaudy decorations, no ostensible signs of power. Chairs, simple, wooden. A table, much the same though larger and taller. Resting on it, maps. All that was needed for military planning, and nothing to distract from it. It was how her command room aboard the Bloodsword had been at the time of Cerulean, and it was as far as she was concerned the best way to ensure all concerned would focus on what they had to. It was not empty as they entered. His dark hair in spikes as always, Brock focused on the plans. Near him, his equally dark hair slowly turning to gray, Giovanni pointed out various things he considered of interest for the conduct of fighting. Danea, also present, was silent, lost in thought.

"Starkhad is moving." She quickly informed them, reporting what she and Misty had found out only a few hours before over Viridian. "Attacking the eastern area, through Viridian pass. The league is getting ready to fight him there. I say we move now."

"What kind of attack would you have us do?" Giovanni inquired slowly as she ran her plan one last time through her mind.

"We know we are not fighting alone. The Silver Lotus oppose Starkhad as much as us, they will certainly be there." She opened slowly. "I would expect them to use hit and fade tactic on the southern flank of the enemy army, but mostly to block their supplies line and position troop around those cliffs to ambush attackers as they come."

"And what part would you have us play?" Brock this time was the one asking.

"We move in and position our troops in Viridian forest. Once the enemy is caught in the pass, we move in to seal it off and drive them from behind to break on the defensive position s of the league.

"If they hold." Danea objected somberly. She had been in a dark mood ever since Tanya and Misty had brought news of the events in Cerulean, the horrors there. They all had been affected, but Danea took it to extremes.

"They will." Misty reported confidently. "It's the best of the league. They'll fight hard to hold back Starkhad."

"Then I guess it's the best we have to do." Giovanni finally concluded after some more discussion.

Chapter 25

From the west, Starkhad's great army was slowly inching its way into the pass. None of his Avaraen were there, and no matter where her scouts had searched - or where - they had found nothing the least bit like traces of the creatures. It was as if he had decided to give the whole victory to his human forces, something not so impossible, knowing the idiot. Had he been half as intelligent as he was selfish, the Lotus would not have suffered from the humiliating utter disaster of the battle - was it even worth being called a battle, seeing as they had not fought? - of Cinnabar. 

"Giovanni?" She asked slowly, turning toward the older man as his eyes wandered north toward a soft waterfall.  
"The Raptor's Talons are ready to strike, from one of the smaller valley that break into the pass about a third of the way through." This was as they had planned. The attack by his strike force trained for stealth and viciousness would throw the attackers in disarray, and hopefully take down a few of their good leaders. "They are only waiting for your signal." He completed. Slowly, she nodded, absently looking at one of the few others with her on the hillside. He had once been a member of the Pewter orchestra, now with his great horn he would sound the charge for the army. 

A simple, but rather effective way to do things, and one that had been used for centuries. 

"Brock?" The young man was sitting at the edge of the cliff, looking far below.  
"The Avalanche guard is ready to move in the second you sound the attack. They'll blockade the western end of the pass, and keep Starkhad's troops pinned down for the slaughter." It was, they had decided, the best task for the Pewter men, heavily trained in defensive warfare and holding a line against impossible odds. Popular lore had their name coming from the fact - rumored fact - that any of them would step alone and empty-handed in the path of an avalanche - and expect to stop it. 

"Jeffrey? Misty?" The last two members of their little group were both watching down from the edge, hands on weapon, and apparently very eager to fight.  
"Everything's ready." Jeffrey's voice was distant, as if some inner turmoil was striking him. There was an haunted look in his eyes, as if he was facing something familiar, something he didn't want to face. "My group's ready to give them a nice black sky whenever you feel like it."  
"And mine's ready to deal the killing blow." Misty nodded rapidly. Once Jeffrey's group had softened the enemy with their rain of arrow, Misty's powerful close combat force would rush in to finish the job. They would have enough firepower to do so, most definitely, with Starkhad's minion trapped between the Avalanche guard and the League forces, and with the Raptor's Talons disorganizing their forces with a series of small-scale hit and fade strikes. 

"Very well. Let's wait now." She watched intently down below as the forces slowly engaged, the spearhead of Starkhad's army running straight into the defenses put together by the League armies. The battle had begun.  
_________________________________ 

Here they were. The Imperial warriors came charging out the west, screaming. For a brief moment, a flash of surprise ran through Otoshi, surprise almost frightening. It disappeared as soon as it had come, though. It was not fear of death, simply the small shiver, shudder at something unexpected, or still shocking despite it. 

Slowly, he reached for the comforting steel of his trusted sword. He had long practiced with the wooden bokken, learning the art of dueling, now he gripped firmly in his hand a single-edged katana that could cut through mostly everything short of a thick layer of steel. 

"Afraid?" His companion, a young woman by the name of Janet, asked, drawing her bow slowly, waiting for them to be ready.

"No, you?" He replied, drawing his sword, ready to kill anyone who would come too close to her. That was the standard battle deployment of their forces, with each of the archer in the first few row being assigned a bodyguard, then paired with another such group and so on to form larger units. Next to them, Joe, who had fought alongside Otoshi in quite a few battles already, was drawing his own bow while his own guard, Damien, stood ready with a long sword in hand. 

The enemy lines came closer, as each passing second seemed to wax in eternity, a raging tide about to crash down on them... 

"Now." Janet whispered softly, releasing her arrow in a blur of movement, the deadly black shaft driven deep in an enemy - at least as far as he could see, as the warrior slowly toppled backward. Others jumped over his body - one of them, only to be hit by Joe's arrow - and came closer. More arrows rose from the ranks of their army, arching down to fall among the attackers... 

And then it was no longer time to think of that as the first of the enemies reached their line. His Katana whistled, striking out without thought at the first man he met, viciously cutting deep in the flesh as it struck past the defense. Janet and Joe dropped their bow, raising rapidly the spears they carried for their own defense in melee fighting, clumsily swinging at the attackers. Some of them fell back, but more came for Otoshi and Damien to take down.  
______________________________ 

Battle raged not only in the narrow Viridian pass, but far away, beyond the gates of the dead. Heaven, or at least the outskirts of it, were now a battlefield were Avaraen and the souls of a million dead struggled in a bitter conflict. Oblivion awaited those who would not survive, destroyed not only in bodies, but in soul as well. 

Avaraen struck down on the ground and up in the sky, though at least over the last terrain they still did not held the advantage, a fact owed in great part to the three glittering figures that roamed the sky, raining flames, ice and thunder down on the attackers. 

Yet, even to Zapdos the battle was growing tiring. Always two of them would remain up while the other rested, a rest made useless by the drowning cries of battle and the feel of being needed elsewhere. He tried to see what could be done more, but there was nothing. Suicune had remained down in the living world, Jormungand was left weak still from wounds years old and unable to fight, Hou-oh, the phoenix, was oathbound to keep the gate of life, Lugia had refused to return to the outer world, and Mew could only help ever so much by fighting down on the ground. 

"We have to strike deeper, at their heart" The voice was Articuno's, as she returned to assist them once more, casting beams of ice among the attackers.  
"True." Moltres nodded slowly. "Take them out quickly."   
"Yes." Zapdos mused slowly. "We will do it." He finally decided. They had done too much beating back assaults, and even more withdrawing - it was time to take the war to the enemies 

The skies were clear as they flew through the timeless realm, past darkened battlefields were the shadow had been victorious, areas devoid of light and life now. 

It was a frightening prospect, the idea that this...corruption, darkness would spread to the entirety of heaven if they did not defeat the invader - an invader with seemingly endless resources, one that would simply make new soldiers for each one that fell. 

The heart of darkness, the pit that had appeared where Enaira had fallen, seemed to come closer quickly, and yet there was no opposition. It made no sense, even this far from the pit they should have encountered some Avaraen in the air, some beast waiting to defend the hearth of their offensive... 

Unless... 

There was no way they could have seen it earlier, not while flying over lands where enemy air presence was weak, if it even existed. Yet, now that he could perceive the truth, it was too late to do anything about it. The smoldering touch of darkness extended out of nowhere at blinding speed, seizing each of them in turn. 

There was nothing left to do for them but to try to save some of their power in the waking world so that they could one day awaken again. Through the searing pain, the great thunder bird found the one he was bound too, to whom he had given the gift of resilience only a few years before... 

With a final shriek, he died as the power vanished out of his body. Around him, caught in dreadful webs of darkness, his companions fell as well, their power streaking out of them toward the one they had once guarded in a desperate gamble to survive. 

They had failed, and now the sky would belong to their enemies.  
_____________________________________ 

Lance peered closely at the map as Erica paced up and down in front of it, adjusting their strategy as the enemy came in, further waves crashing down in the defenders. 

"Bruno?" She asked, her voice snapping.  
"We are still holding out to the north. Violet and her troops are fighting extremely well, though they takes lots of risk."  
"They fight like people with nothing to lose. I can understand that." Slowly, Lance shook his head. "I still wonder what happened there - and what I could have done to stop it."  
"No point in worrying about that." Bruno's voice rang. "We need to beat them back out of the pass."  
"We might want to keep them from doing that to us first and foremost." Lance again.  
"Lance?" Erica went on, not that interested in the quick discussion between the two.  
"We're holding our own to the south, at least for now."  
"Good." She went back to pacing up and down, awaiting further reports of the situation. As long as the enemy charge continued, there was only one efficient thing to do, and that was trying to break it up while holding what ground they had. 

"I just hope Violet can control their suicidal instincts..." A brief whisper from Lance. "We can't lose them."  
"Afraid that's out of her power." Bruno muttered. "And that's a risky situation. If they move forward and get separated from our main line, that will leave an hole for them to break through."  
"Exactly." She wasn't too interested in hearing them repeat over and over again thing she knew all too well, especially those about the most important risks of the situation.  
_____________________________ 

The swirling dance of blade continued on the front lines, unabated, a deadly dance that separated those good enough, and those lucky enough, from those who had failed - a separation no one could ever cross. Blood trickled down Otoshi's left arm, the result of an arrow that had came entirely too close to him for his own good. His right arm seemed made of molten metal, burning pain and impossible weight. He struck again with it, attacking the shadowy form to his right - there was no longer even clear sight of who was enemy and who was ally. All there was around him was shadowy forms, and he just struck out at those that attacked him. 

If he ever got out of the fighting alive, he would spend a long time in bed, just sleeping. Sleep sounded like a good idea right now, in fact, but he just couldn't afford to take it. Liquid splashed on his right arm, but he could not for the life of his - what was left of it, the unlife of one whose fight for freedom had suddenly become a fight for survival - figure if it was rain, blood, or something else. Either way it didn't matter, there was only the fighting around, one thing to do. 

His sword fell on a shadow again, and through tired ears he seemed to hear a scream of pain. He had apparently struck. The shadow crumpled to the ground, wounded or dead. Why should he care? As long as it didn't threaten him, he didn't care in the smallest what happened to the man. 

He had no idea what had happened to the others, Janet, Joe, Damien. The onrushing tides of enemies had split them apart long ago. For all he knew maybe in the rushing fight he had accidentally struck or killed one or more of them. There was no time to see if they were friends or foes - anyone that came too close had to be taken out, or he'd die.  
A flash of pain in his shoulder, warm liquid flowing there again, he had been wounded. Perhaps a blade, perhaps an arrow though few archers still dared to fire in the fierce melee, aware that whether they would hit enemy or ally was up to luck. 

An opening in the shadows, there, a place where the fighting seemed to have died, a place where he could rest and clear his head of the buzzing noise of fighting. He rushed there, pushing away with his blade all that stood in his way, having no idea where he was anymore - no more than a general idea -, only hoping to get out. 

As he reached the clear area, rocky cliffs rising out on both sides, or at least seeming too, he dropped to the ground. Another shadow came, slowly, carefully. He reached for his sword, knowing there was no point to it. 

"Has Starkhad found us yet?" a voice from far off that barely seemed to reach him. It was worried, definitely. And, if they opposed Starkhad...then it had to be friends. Yes, friends.  
"Not so. He's with the League, General Nelson." That was the shadow near him. A human in red and silver, he thought as his vision slowly cleared of the rush of battle. He closed his eyes slowly, wanting only to sleep.  
___________________________ 

There was a strange whistling noise in the air, out of nowhere that they could see. Lance whirled, wondering where it came from, but yet more, the sound became louder. 

"What's that?" Bruno asked uneasily, shifting around. "I don't like it."  
"It's coming from above..." he realized slowly, looking up.  
"I don't like it..." 

There was no time to scream, out of nowhere the reflex came and Lance threw himself to the ground, rolling away from the center of the tent. So did Bruno, and Erica started to do the same. 

As she did, the source of the whistling came in sight, crashing through the top of the tent, a large boulder crashing in. Bruno, on his side, was safe, definitely. So was Lance as he watched it falling, crashing to the ground... 

Erica never had a single chance, crushed within moments. 

"Sir, our lines are on the verge of breaking!" An haggard-looking soldier came, blood trickling down his cheek. "They brought in catapults and..." He stopped, realizing the group was already well aware of that development. "Oh god..."  
"Damn!" Bruno swore. There was no time to react to a friend's death, only time to try to salvage what could be salvaged of their fighting force...  
"Pull back to the exit of the pass! We'll make a stand there!" Lance ordered rapidly, hoping he could do something, anything, to stem the sudden tide.


End file.
